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Photo Pru Sowers
Rex McKinsey, harbormaster and pier manager.
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MacMillan Pier manager keeps job
By Pru Sowers
Banner Correspondent
PROVINCETOWN — All existing staff members of the harbormaster’s office and Provincetown Public Pier Corp. were rehired this week, and three of four newly created positions were filled.
The Pier Corp., the quasi-public entity created to manage MacMillan Pier, took over management of the town’s Marine Dept. in spring at the behest of the Board of Selectmen, and as part of that transition it made all staff reapply for their jobs and undergo extensive interviews.
“We went from the top to the bottom and spent a lot of time on the interview process,” said Paul DeRuyter, Pier Corp. board chair. “We had a good pool of people who showed interest.”
The top spot, a combined harbormaster and pier manager, went to Rex McKinsey, who has held the pier manager position for the past two and a half years. It was a unanimous decision by the board, according to George Hitchcock, Pier Corp. board member and a member of the board’s personnel committee.
“He’s a hard worker with good skills. And he’s willing to go out and learn the skills he doesn’t have,” Hitchcock said.
Other candidates for the harbormaster position had more law enforcement experience than McKinsey. However, none could match McKinsey’s work renovating and restructuring the MacMillan Pier organization over the past two years, Hitchcock said.
“He’s really pulled the whole thing together,” he added.
This was echoed by DeRuyter, who said that McKinsey had worked hard during a difficult transition when Provincetown turned over management of MacMillan Pier to the newly formed Pier Corp.
“He has a tremendous dedication to the job. That’s extremely important in a position like this. It was a comfortable decision for the board to make,” DeRuyter said.
Also returning in his current position as full-time assistant harbormaster is Duane Steele. Returning seasonal assistant harbormasters include Marty Huey, Warren Costa, Maurice Worth and Chris Fiset. Luis Ribas has been rehired to be the on-call and relief assistant harbormaster for winter storms.
New positions include two new seasonal assistant harbormaster positions, which will be filled by newcomers Susan Apeldoorn and Carla Anderson. Another new year-round assistant harbormaster position, this one probably consisting of a four-day work week, will be filled by Anthony Joseph.
The last newly created full-time position, administrative coordinator and dispatcher, has not been filled yet. This is a central position, according to Hitchcock, and the Pier Corp. board will be going to a second round of interviews on June 23.
There is also the possibility that the dispatcher responsibilities may be shared among the assistant harbormasters, DeRuyter said.
Still to be worked out are the benefits Pier Corp. will pay its staff. The board is still deliberating whether it can match the employees’ previous benefits, which were paid by the town when it managed MacMillan Pier. Both Hitchcock and DeRuyter said it is unlikely that Pier Corp. will match the 80/20 health insurance plan currently offered by the town to its employees.
“We will manage this as a real business with attention to the bottom line,” DeRuyter said. “It will be reflective of a normal business environment which may be different than what the town offers. It will look more like a private business than a town.”
McKinsey said that he is pleased to retain the harbormaster-pier manager spot. He is currently working on developing scheduling plans for the staff, which will likely involve more staff members working fewer hours.
“We’ll have the same number of shifts but have more bodies, more experienced people available. This increases our options,” McKinsey said, in terms of having additional staff available during storms or other emergencies.
Projects on the horizon for MacMillan Pier include getting a second ice machine for commercial fishermen to use and hearing about a $500,000 transportation grant. If approved, the grant monies will be spent on building a ferry transportation terminal and rest rooms. McKinsey said they hope to hear about the grant in the next two weeks.
“I’m excited. We’ve spent the past two and a half years talking about it. Now we get to spend the next two and half years implementing it,” he said of the MacMillan Pier restructuring program.
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Jun 16th, 2005