Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors will hold a special meeting today to consider a request by Ken Hunt to be involuntarily laid off, due to a loss of wages of $40,000 associated with the agency’s recent internal reorganization of jobs and duties.

The AWA board will meet at 3 p.m. today to consider a request by Hunt for an involuntary layoff, effective July 15, with severance pay. Hunt, in a letter to the board said “it is my hope that this action will help save another position,” as well as “help the Agency balance the budget.”

Hunt in a June 29 letter to the board said that due to the reorganization, starting July 1, his “position will be spilt into two separate positions. One as Construction Manager and the other as Preventative Maintenance Tech, with an adjusted salary range of a Distribution Operator 2.” He said “this is not a reclassification, but a splitting and creation of two separate positions, entirely out of scope from the job classification I had hired on to perform in March 2006.”

The decrease in salary of more than $40,000, “including concessions given up via the Management Bargaining Unit,” created a split position which he said he cannot accept.

Hunt said he appreciated the “AWA for trying to keep me employed during this economic downturn,” and also asked to “be placed on the re-employment list in the event that the Gravity Supply Line Project gets under way.”

The AWA board will consider Hunt’s request, and also meets in closed session, with labor negotiators, including General Manager Gene Mancebo, Karen Gish, and Directors Robert Manssero and Paul Molinelli. The closed session includes discussion of the AWA Employees Association, the Confidential Bargaining Unit, and the Management Bargaining Unit.

The special meeting is set for 3 p.m. today and will start with the closed session.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.