FITCHBURG -- The City Council has approved funding a newly created economic development director position for the remainder of the fiscal year with free cash.
The council approved the $45,000 spending request from Mayor Lisa Wong in a 9-1 vote, with Finance Chairman Marcus DiNatale in opposition.
DiNatale said he is supportive of the position and agrees it is necessary in the city, but that he disagrees with how to fund it. He said the full-time position, as a recurring expense, should be funded in the budget and not with one-time reserves, and believes the council should have waited until the fiscal 2015 budget process to fund it.
The position, which has been absent from the city in recent years, was recently reinstated with a favorable vote on Councilor-at-Large Dean Tran's petition to bring it back.