Finance Department retirements leave city

    PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – The city of Presque Isle is losing decades of experience with the retirement of Finance Director Donald “Spike” Savage and Tax Collector Sharon Willette.
“The city has been very fortunate to have two qualified employees for such a long time and we’ll miss them both very, very much,” said City Manager Tom Stevens.
    Willette was hired by the city in 1966. Savage has been with the city since 1975. Between the two, they’ve seen several city managers come and go, dealt with mil rate increases, staff changes and have dealt with City Hall renovations that required their offices to move literally throughout the building, from bottom to top.
“They say the building was built around me,” Savage said with a laugh.
Savage was initially hired by City Manager Dana Connors and, due to budget issues at the time, he recalled his first salary was the grand figure of $5,000 a year. He admitted things have improved since that time, though he wouldn’t say what he earns now. Over the years, Savage has taken it upon himself to do a number of tasks outside his job description. He said there have been times when he was seeking a solution to something and he’d sit back and wonder how Connors would have handled it.
“I’ve done maintenance in the building, including tracking leaks and toting copy paper where it was needed. As things came up, I’d often handle them myself. City Hall has always been informal. The city has grown but staffing has remained at the same level for quite some time. There’s enough work to require an additional person,” said Savage.
Prior to working for the city, Savage worked as an accountant for Chester M. Kearney in Presque Isle. That experience laid the foundation for Savage’s role as finance director.
“I enjoy the numbers. This is what I know, what I enjoy. But it’s time for a change – time for someone new, who’ll have new ideas, to step in,” said Savage.
Savage said he’s requested an audit when he leaves to ensure everything is up to date.
“I’m not concerned they’ll find anything; I’m sure there’s nothing to find. I just want to go out knowing it’s been taken care of,” said Savage.
Starting on the first floor, Savage has had his office located on all floors of City Hall – most recently the third floor.
“When I came, the YMCA and Chamber of Commerce were located here. I basically began as an internal auditor, working by myself. Now we have seven in the department, that’s including myself,” said Savage.
The biggest change in the department, according to Savage, has been the addition of computerized systems to keep records. Gone are the days of ledgers and pencils, replaced by disk drives, keyboards and monitors. Though Savage said computers have their advantages, increasing the amount of data that can be stored in a small space, disadvantages include the occasional power outage that leaves staff unable to access data.
“As time went by, there were more requirements to keep certain records and we needed more room. We’ve expanded over the years, with computers giving us the ability to store information in compact form,” said Savage.
Savage said he and Willette have worked for the city for so long, it will be strange not seeing all the familiar faces on a daily basis. Willette said it’s like leaving home for the first time, venturing out into the world without her ‘family.’
“I love the work and the people I work with. They’re like family. I’ll miss working with the public and waiting on taxpayers,” said Willette of the only job she’s ever held, having taken the position straight out of high school. “My guidance counselor, Carol Stewart, got me the position. It started at $50 a week.”
Over the years, Willette has handled accounts payable, payroll, tax bills, warrants for City Council, liens, foreclosure notices and performed whatever other tasks of a financial nature arose. Willette recalled how, in the beginning, everything was done by hand. Computers now make many tasks much simpler.
“When I first started, I did hand-typing to cards. Someone had to transfer the data to computer. We’ve used Gemini (program) and now we’ve switched to TRIO. Everything’s different. I’ve seen a lot of changes in how we process data in the tax office; it’s made handling records much easier,” said Willette. “But when the computers are down, it’s panic time. It pays to know it the old way.”
City Clerk Nancy Nichols has been with the city since 1998 and has fond memories of working with Savage and Willette.
“It’s been an interesting example of dedication. The experiences they’ve shared are parallel – they’ve sort of grown up together,” said Nichols.
Sharon Barclay, a 28-year veteran of City Hall, has enjoyed working with both individuals.
“They have a lot of days in here. Poor Spike. He’s been kicked out of every office he’s been in. They are part of the city’s history and will be greatly missed,” said Barclay.
“I think it will be a bittersweet day (the final work day) for both and a very emotional day as well,” said Nichols. “They have very large shoes to fill but life keeps going. Whoever steps in will have a lot of learning to do. I wish Spike and Sharon well and encourage them to go out and enjoy the world.”
Savage said his replacement will have their hands full at first.
“Whoever comes in, their time will be eaten up looking for things, learning everything. I wish them luck,” said Savage.
Stevens said Willette’s position has been filled, with the hiring of Deborah Ouellette, of New Sweden.
“Deborah has a CPA master’s degree in business from Husson College, with a BA in economics from UMO. We had 34 candidates and reeled in some top-quality applicants for this round, so the Selection Committee had a job on their hands,” said LaNiece Winslow, the city’s personnel director.
Stevens has worked with the pair since he took the position of city manager in 1992.
“I’ve worked with them since my arrival. They’re exceptional in what they do. They’ve both seen significant changes at City Hall and hopefully they’ve had some fun along the way,” said Stevens.
According to Stevens, the city has its work cut out for it in the months ahead.
“They’ll definitely be hard to replace – the knowledge they could access by memory will now require someone searching through documents to obtain. That’s a lot for one department to lose in a short period of time. We’ve been fortunate to have them as long as we did here at the city. They’ve been very conscientious employees and we wish them both the best of luck in their retirements,” said Stevens. “I’ll miss them personally too, as good friends and fellow workers.”
Willette and Savage, upon retirement, leave behind a combined work history of 73 years. Willette’s last day was June 29. Savage’s last day is July 13.
Willette plans to do some volunteer work and perhaps take a course or two.
“I won’t stay idle but plan to take the summer off to think things over. My husband’s a fisherman and I like to fish, so maybe I’ll do a bit of that. I’m also considering going back to NMCC to learn more about computers,” said Willette.
Savage said his future has already partially been planned by his daughter.
“My daughter already told me I’ll be taking my granddaughter to the park and to rec activities. I’d also like to do some genealogy and other projects. I want to stay busy. But first, I want to sit back and look at it all and go from there. I have some old movies of family that I want to organize, condense and list who’s there,” said Savage.
Like Willette, Savage said he’d miss his co-workers.
“I’m gonna miss ‘the family,’ and even Larry Clark,” said Savage. “I’ll think of them as I enjoy traveling to visit my son in New Hampshire and daughter in Florida.”
The city is planning a special retirement party for Willette and Savage at City Hall. Contact Nichols at 764-2520 for more information.