In the public eye: Legere at center of Windham Public Works’ success

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

Jennifer Legere has become an essential member of Windham’s Public Works Department and someone that residents can depend on when they need assistance from various town offices.

As Administrative Assistant for Windham's Public Works
Department, Jennifer Legere is the interface between
the town and residents who seek need help from Public
Works. She also handles tasks for the town's engineer,
Highway Supervisor, Public Works Director, and 
Building and Grounds Supervisor. 
SUBMITTED PHOTO   

Legere serves as the Town of Windham’s Public Works Administrative Assistant and handles a variety of tasks for the Public Works Director, Town Engineer, Highway Supervisor and Building and Grounds Supervisor, as well as in assisting other departments when needed.

Her specific duties include answering phones, being available at the front office for when people visit, processing payroll for all Windham Public Works employees, tracking costs associated with certain projects and jobs, and processing and coding invoices. She also creates and maintains various spreadsheets, ordering office supplies, processing permits for the Windham Town Engineer and serves as the go-between for permit applicants and the town, collecting fees associated with permits as well as recycling bins, ordering signs either replacements or for new street openings.

If that’s not all, Legere fields all types of phone calls related to trash service, road maintenance, and other miscellaneous issues in Windham.

“I am also the go-between for residents and Casella with regards to trash service, so please, go easy on me if you have to call,” she said.

Despite only being on the job since May 2022, Legere is committed to quality work and says she enjoys her job.

“So far, I love the variety of people I talk to on the phone every day. They are all mostly residents of Windham and are essentially my neighbors,” Legere said. “I am chatty, so I have engaged in some entertaining conversations with certain residents. Everyone that I have worked with at the town have been very helpful and welcoming to me as a new person and someone that is new to working in a municipality.”

As a new municipal employee, she feels she still has things to learn about the various programs used to process invoices, payroll, and permits.

“Learning the ins and outs of those systems can be a little challenging but everyone has been very supportive and not too annoyed with my many questions,” Legere said. “I think the biggest misconception many have is that an Administrative Assistant only answers the phones and things of that nature. An organized support staff is very important to the daily operations of a successful department. I enjoy providing that support so everyone can work efficiently and effectively.”

She grew up in Portland and attended schools there before working in a daycare/pre-school as a Pre-School teacher after high school. Legere then spent 19 years as an employee at AAA Northern New England, logging time as a Customer Service Representative in the Call Center, as a Call Center Supervisor, as a Dispatcher and then a Dispatch Supervisor.

“I then worked for the last 10 years with AAA as a Production Specialist making AAA TripTiks which was a job I loved very much,” she said. “Unfortunately, our positions were eliminated, and I decided it was time to move on rather than take another position. After leaving AAA, I gained a position with Oakhurst Dairy as the Fleet Services Coordinator, where I was essentially the Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Systems and Logistics with support roles for Distribution, HR, Customer Service and Fleet Maintenance. My position with Oakhurst probably taught me most of the skills I needed to obtain my job with the town.”

She says that she always has been interested in working in municipal government in the town where she lives.

“Everything about it looked appealing to me. I am working closer to home now with only a seven-minute commute,” Legere said.

According to Legere, her family supports her decision to work for the Town of Windham.

“My family was all very happy for me as they knew it was something I had wanted for a long time,” she said. “The general public may not know how much time the Public Works employees put in to keeping our town looking nice and running smoothly while staying within budget. I think people forget that there is a major worker shortage and in addition to that there is a CDL driver shortage nationwide due to changes in obtaining a CDL license. Many Public Works employees have been performing the job of two people until recently when we became almost fully staffed. I have quickly learned that the majority of the people that work for our town enjoy the work they do, and they take pride in their work and keeping our town a desirable place to live, work and raise a family.” <