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Skowhegan has a very important government and without it there would be no Skowhegan as we know it. The Government has many parts, and each one is important in different ways. Here are three of those important parts : Randall Gray is Skowhegans code enforcer. He is on the job from 8 am to 5 pm. After he leaves work he is not really done working because he is on call 24 hours a day. Even when he has free time he gets many calls at his home. Randall started out as an estimator, he majored in local business trades and is certified. He loves and respects the environment. His job consists of making sure everything is safe and up to date with the code laws. Randall has to make sure buildings are built to the law and makes sure the environment is respected. He even plans for the future. As the code enforcer, Randy has to make sure everything complies with inspection law. If it doesn't, then Randy may be forced to shut down restaurants, buildings and most anything you can imagine. The environment is a great part of his job and Randy has to make sure it stays clean and safe. He has to make sure that camps are 100 excessive erosion will not occur and the fish will not die. If a code is violated then he must have the building moved the the building must be taken down. Randy's job is very important in the Skowhegan government. He has to make sure the economy stays safe. The most important part of his job is to make sure that everyone in Skowhegan has their land protected. From 8 to 5 Randy is on the job and never is he off the job. Rhonda Starks is Skowhegans town clerk, treasurer, and director of elections. She collects taxes, permits and licenses and still has time for her family. For permits Rhonda gives out licenses for restaurants, dogs, marriage, birth, death, ATV, boats, and snowmobiles. Right now she is working on the 97-98 taxes because people have two years to collect their taxes. She also is working on the town report that she does every year. She too has a major part in the Skowhegan's government because her job is the only required job at the municipal building. Her job would not be as easy without technology. Rhonda says that computers and phones make it much easier to keep track of everything she does. After all of her years of working, computers have come a long way and so has the technology and that helps her job considerably. Rhonda loves her job and says she wouldn't change a thing. But she does dislike the fact that she has late night meetings or the fact that if someone wanted her job she could lose it by just a vote. She wishes she could make up for all the times she missed her children's sport games but she has always tried to be there for them. Rhonda Starks has been on the job for 11 years and we appreciate her! Patricia Dickey is on duty an estimated twelve hours a day, sixty hours a week, and is on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week ! She is in her office from 7 a.m. to sometimes 9 pm because of meetings. She is the Skowhegan town manager. This year she has worked with a budget of 3,401,948.70. With this money she must pay everyone in the Municipal Building and make sure the departments have enough money to get the jobs done. A great deal of money comes from car registrations, she collects 1,000,000 dollars a year which all adds up. As a town manager, Pat is very busy and must make a list of everything she has to do each week. She tries to meet with one department head weekly. Pat also has to hold 2 meetings a month. This is when the town manager makes suggestions and the selectman decide if they will be followed through with or not. Each day she starts a new project and her big project now is getting the opera house renovated. This is very important to her just as it is for the town's people. The opera house is very old and is also very memorable. Technology has changed a lot in the years she has worked in the municipal building. When she started, clerical workers used typewriters, now they use modern computers which she says helps a lot. There also was no phone system like they have now with call waiting, hold etc… They work with other companies through the Internet and e-mail. Pat says she hopes there will not be such a need for paper in the future, but she believes that this probably will not happen. There are also copy machines, faxes, and so forth. The only thing she would want to change about her job is working such long hours. She likes her job because it deals primarily with people, and she is a people person. She cares about people even when she must lay down law to them. Pat Dickey has worked in the municipal building for 36 years and has been our town manager for 18 and....she is still going strong!
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