Washington Co. creates new employee positions, saves $117,000

Murray said Sprecher is performing many of those tasks; the change for her will be a job reclassification.

He said he has resisted having an assistant county administrator, but he now believes the position is needed.


Sprecher was named director of public relations and community affairs in the summer of 2011 at a salary of $61,131.

The public relations position will be advertised at a salary of about $9,700 less, according to a chart Murray provided.

Other new positions include communications coordinator, architect, senior plans examiner and project liaison, which will manage the components of development projects. A marketing position is being revived.

The architect job in the public works division and the senior plans examiner for commercial projects in the plan review and permitting division will let leaders of those divisions focus on higher-level work, Murray said.

Two of the eight vacant jobs are in engineering/construction.

Two others, in planning, arose when employees were promoted to more senior positions.

Three other vacancies were connected to the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission: executive director, deputy director and airport business development manager.

The fourth vacant position was county public information officer.

Murray said the county might create or fill a top EDC job once it gets the results of a report from a consultant studying the EDC and its structure.

He said the $117,316 in money left from Tuesday’s changes would cover that EDC salary.