Understaffed In Waterville? The Mayor Will Happily Cover Shifts.

Wait, the mayor of Waterville is what?

Yup. You read it right. Local businesses of all types from mom & pop type places, all the way up through the big box places are all experiencing short staffing. Can you think of any type of business that is totally up to full capacity on staff? Even despite the fact the unemployment has dropped to near pre-pandemic levels, there's still lots of holes.

The mayor of Waterville has his own ideas about helping, rather than just going on TV and complaining about what everyone already knows. According to WABI,  Mayor Jay Coelho is offering himself to local business to try and help them out. Or at least be able to begin a better dialogue with locals to try and see where he can help.

What kind of jobs is he willing to do?

Pretty much anything. Here's what he said to WABI:

I’ll go jump on a roof, I’ll go stand outside with a flag, I don’t care. I want to try it all. When your community leaders are engaged, it’s just good for everyone. It gives me an opportunity to talk to business owners, see what’s going on, see what their challenges are. I’ve already got three jobs scheduled for September. I’m talking to about seven other people.

His first shift is going to be making deliveries with Waterville Florist and Formal Wear. And in case you're wondering, Mayor Coelho won't be making a dime off this. He's encouraging businesses to donate what would be his salary, to charity. With all the other jobs he has lined up, some local charities will get a nice little donation.

He is totally right. If you want to connect with your community, you have to be out in it. You can't be behind a big desk, yakking on the phone. This guy is literally showing folks the meaning of rolling up your sleeves and getting down to work. Let's see if one of his political rivals will try to pay him to quit. Oh, the irony......