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DANBURY, Conn. Danbury officials have not quite opened the floodgates to hire a host of new employees, but it is slowly emerging from the hiring freeze that has gripped city government over the past few years.
Not including seasonal part-time employees, typically numbering about 200, the city of Danbury employs 600 to 700 people. Since the recession began a few years ago, the city has hired only for essential positions, such as police officers and firefighters, according to Danbury Human Resources Director Virginia Alosco-Werner.
City departments have been under the edict of keeping costs down and doing more with less in an effort to keep taxes relatively low, which Mayor Mark Boughton reiterated this week when he spoke at the citys new Citizens Government Academy.
That is beginning to change.
Currently, the city has seven job openings posted on its website, including an assistant library directors position that pays an annual salary of $67,000. The library recently hired Danbury resident Michele Capozzella as its new director after she served as the interim director for several months.
Among the other openings the city is advertising to fill include a public health inspector and an electrical inspector.
Overall, the number of staff positions in the city is down compared with past years, but the Danbury is moving beyond just hiring essential jobs.
There are a lot of positions, at least 50, that we have not filled in the last two years, Alosco-Werner said. Some will not be refilled, but others were beginning to look at.
Virtually all Danbury government jobs require applicants to complete civil service tests, which Alosco-Werner said the city is gearing up to host beginning next month. For example, tests for the assistant library director position will be held Oct. 23; tests for the electrical inspector will be held Oct. 30; and for the health inspector Nov. 5.
And within the next several weeks, the city will look to repopulate its list for firefighters, which is expiring after two years, Alosco-Werner added.
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