Tight budget means leash is shorter for dog catcher
Stephen Szucs | The Chronicle-Telegram
LORAIN — In his second year as Lorain animal control officer, Mike Mattei has found what works and what doesn’t when it comes to catching rogue canines.
In most cases, it’s being available all hours of the day, but the city is looking at whether it can afford to let Mattei, who has already surpassed his 2008 overtime budget, be available 24/7.
“We have an obvious dog problem in Lorain, and that’s not new. It’s an overwhelming job,” Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko said. “What we’re making sure of is any time we have a dangerous situation, the animal control officer will respond. Beyond that, we’ll try to manage the overtime to minimize additional expenses.”
Mattei earns $17.77 per hour at 40 hours a week and $26.66 for each overtime hour. A total of $2,500 was budgeted this year for overtime, but he’s already racked up nearly $500 more than that, city Auditor Ron Mantini said.
“It could take an additional $3,000 to $4,000,” Mantini said. “It really wasn’t budgeted that well. It’s hard to project.”
The position’s overtime budget was cut in half from 2007, when Mattei earned $5,100 in overtime. During the first four months of that year, he went on 277 calls. During that same time frame this year, he’s gone out on 398.
Mattei said most of those calls come from Lorain police when they encounter an animal situation that needs to be defused.
“When word starts to spread that you’re doing a good job, people start to rely on you more,” Mattei said. “I’m not paid to be on call, but when my pager or my phone goes off, I make sure I’m there.”
Krasienko said the city would like to allow Mattei to work at his current pace but may seek additional help from the county dog warden, which covers the city’s animal control officer if he can’t make it to a call.
“I don’t think anybody can question the diligence our dog warden has and the dedication to his job,” Krasienko said.
“He’s a very good employee. It’s unfortunate we can’t support that department better, but we’re doing everything we possibly can.”
Contact Stephen Szucs at 329-7129 or sszucs@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Stephen Szucs | The Chronicle-Telegram May 9th, 2008 in Local and State. Popularity: 1% |
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