City of Reading Seeks a Leader for Public Works Department: Charter Amendment on November 7th Ballot.
Reading, PA: The City of Reading is in search of a dedicated and qualified leader to serve as its Director of Public Works. Currently, the City Charter mandates that this position must be held by a certified professional engineer (P.E.). Unfortunately, there has been very little interest from qualified engineers to step into this role on a full-time basis.
With several engineers on staff and several engineering firms under contract, the requirement that the Public Works Director have an engineering license is simply not necessary. What the City truly needs is a Department Director with municipal experience, someone who can seamlessly integrate into the City's leadership team.
In light of this, the Charter must be amended to remove the requirement for the Public Works Director to be a professional engineer. On November 7th, we urge all residents to cast a “YES” vote in favor of this crucial amendment.
William Heim, City Managing Director said, “The requirement to have a Public Works Director be a licensed professional engineer has severely hindered our ability to fill this position. The position has been vacant for about two years, and even a professional recruiting firm has been unable to attract a candidate with that credential. Since we currently employee engineers who are licensed, the Public Works Director does not need it to fulfill the duties of managing the department.”
Let's empower our city to appoint the right person for the job and enhance the effectiveness of our Public Works Department.
