Meetings Ahead
Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.
Thursday, June 25
- Charter Compliance Commission, noon
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
- Public Pier Corp. 2 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Covid-19 Update
As of June 23, the town had zero cases of the coronavirus, one death, and 28 additional cases that are considered recovered.
Furlough Potential for Town Staff
Town Manager Robin Craver is estimating that room and meals taxes and parking revenue will be down 75 percent this summer with fewer visitors in town. If that prediction comes to pass, she is considering furloughs of town staff and cuts to many departments.
Craver told the select board Monday that the worst-case scenario is a loss of $2.2 million in tax revenues alone.
She recommended cutting small items throughout the government, but the police department would take a bigger hit at $208,599, with the elimination of cost-of-living increases for officers and step increases, or staff layoffs.
Police Chief James Golden criticized Craver’s recommendation, saying this could encourage officers to take jobs elsewhere.
The school budget cut would be deep at $400,000.
Craver is also looking at furloughing 26 employees earning less than $50,000 for five days, and at 10-day furloughs for 62 employees earning over $50,000.
These numbers are subject to revision based on the actual revenue that comes in this summer.
Rick Murray Resigns From VSB
Rick Murray resigned on June 17 from the visitor services board after nine years, saying he needs to concentrate on his businesses and personal life.
“I need to utilize 100 percent of my brain to concentrate on my staff as opposed to being a volunteer for a board,” he said. “It’s time for someone else to advocate for the Provincetown Business Guild.”
Murray, who owns two businesses hard hit by the coronavirus (the Mussel Beach gym and the Crown & Anchor nightclub and bar), served as the PBG liaison for the VSB. This year, he took a lot of heat for an email he wrote that circulated on social media. Murray said he sent it out to the PBG’s executive board in April and someone who apparently did not like the content posted it on social media.
The email encouraged owners of large businesses to advocate for their needs during the pandemic. “We control the conversation and have the power in this vacuum,” Murray wrote. “If we don’t survive the town budget will collapse! Town Hall needs US.”
The email is not why he is resigning, Murray said.
Jay Gurewitsch, chair of the VSB, said Murray “was a forceful advocate for his organization and a tremendous source of institutional memory.”
Murray has owned Mussel Beach since 1992 and the Crown since 2000.
Ambassadors During Covid-19
Provincetown is hiring 8 to 12 people at $16.28 an hour to be ambassadors to promote safety during the Covid-19 pandemic this summer.
The program begins July 2, runs through Labor Day weekend, and is budgeted at $10,000 for the season.
The ambassadors will welcome visitors, answer questions, and provide education to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including explaining health and safety guidelines for social distancing and distributing masks.
They will be located throughout town and conduct light maintenance to sanitize “designated tourist and recreational areas,” according to a press release from the town.
Dressing in drag and other fun attire is encouraged, it stated.
Applications: provincetown-ma.gov/6/Employment. —K.C. Myers
