County moves to reclassify heavy-duty mechanics amid recruitment shortage

The Department of Transportation told the personnel committee it must reclassify vacant fleet mechanic positions to heavy-duty mechanic roles and increase pay ranges to address persistent recruitment failures and retain experienced technicians.

John Blonion, fleet director, said the county has about 30 mechanics with roughly four current vacancies and that roughly 14 positions will be designated heavy-duty. Blonion described heavy-duty work as specialized — covering fire trucks, Oshkosh equipment at the airport, front-end loaders and plow trucks — and said many skills require on-the-job experience. He warned that understaffing of heavy-duty mechanics "could ultimately result in us having to close the airport," underscoring potential public-safety and service impacts.

Blonion provided a sense of current pay ranges: he said one of the most experienced current heavy-duty mechanics makes about $33 an hour and that under the proposed adjustments the top of the range could reach about $38 an hour; he said the ordinance action targets vacant positions so the county can advertise more competitive rates. Supervisor Wasserman moved approval and the committee recommended adoption, 4-0.