Good morning Julia and Nicholas,
When I woke up today I had more questions about the police solicitations.
— Is Jim Reid an employee of the Hanover Police Department? The voicemail said “with” the Hanover PD, so I assume he is, because if he isn’t he should have said “for” the Hanover PD.
— If he’s NOT an employee, then I’m annoyed that I was lied to by someone representing the town. There should be much more careful monitoring of outside contractors. For instance, perhaps he should say his firm’s name, along with “representing the Hanover PD.” I’m sure you can understand why someone misrepresenting themselves to be a Hanover police department employee would be problematic, in both the present situation and in the long-term consequences.
— If he IS an employee, is he being paid for this time soliciting businesses? That is, are taxpayers paying to have town employees call citizens and ask for money? I’m not sure what to think about that, but it’s not an obvious win from my point of view.
— If he IS an employee, and is NOT being paid, i.e. this is a volunteer effort, then I have concerns about the “wink wink, nudge nudge” aspect of “volunteering” for your employer. This is common in white-collar businesses, where salaried employees are regularly expected to work more than the specified 40 hours per week, violating all sorts of Federal labor act provisions and State labor laws. For some reason this is never enforced, presumably due to the power of Capital over Labor, but I would dislike the idea that a town government, especially one the size and quality of Hanover, would engage in this behavior.
Perhaps you can shed some light on the operation of this program and address my concerns, which I’m sure are shared by many others in our community. Thanks for your consideration.
Michael J.
April 19, 2006