By Ed Pierce
Organization is essential for Janet Staples and it’s a skill that serves her well in her work with the Town of Raymond.
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| Janet Staples has served as the Administrative Assistant for the Town of Raymond's Code Enforcement Office for the past five months and she assists local homeowners in processing various permits and answers code questions, fields property questions and schedules the town's code officer and assistant code officer for appointments. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
She has been working for the Town of Raymond for five months after previously working for a coastal town in Maine for 19 years.
“I wanted to work closer to home and live in Gray,” Staples said. “I wanted to continue to work for a small-town municipality.”
As part of her duties, she represents the Town of Raymond and assists local homeowners in processing various permits. She answers code questions, fields property questions, schedules the code officer and assistant code officer for appointments, and answers phone calls and returns phone calls left for the code office on voicemail.
It’s a complex job that involves knowing town ordinances and application procedures and assisting residents and real estate professionals with property location, identity, land use, zoning and scanning or photocopying documents. Staples also assists with the issuing of building, septic, and plumbing permits and provides forms for citizens and developers for the completion and submission of a variety of municipal building permits.
In her role, Staples maintains databases for all building permits, septic designs, plumbing permits and oversees all files, both electronic and paper, for the Code office.
“The best thing about what you do in my job is helping the homeowners and contractors through the building permit process, and the variety of tasks during the day,” she said.
According to Staples, the most challenging aspect of her work is time management.
“Some days you are constantly interrupted and so you need to be able to multi-task in this position,” she said.
Besides her position duties, Staples must demonstrate knowledge of business English, grammatical construction, spelling, punctuation, and arithmetic, and possess an excellent vocabulary. She is experienced in proper office practices, procedures and equipment and understands planning, zoning, and building procedures necessary to keep varied Code Enforcement records, to assemble and organize data, and to prepare standard reports from such records.
She also has considerable knowledge of the geographic layout of the town and is resourceful and able to find such information quickly.
“Touring the Town of Raymond with the assistant code officer to learn the current major projects and learning the road names and different sections of the town has been my most memorable moment working here so far,” Staples said. “I was amazed at all the little roads that lead to the different bodies of water here in town.”
She grew up in Cape Elizabeth and raised a family there. Staples attended what was then Westbrook College (now the University of New England) and earned an associate of art’s degree in business and merchandising. During her professional career, Staples has worked as an assessor’s assistant, planning department assistant, zoning board assistant, notary, motor vehicle clerk, as a proofreader for sales flyers for a major food chain and a ticket agent for Delta Airlines.
Now that she’s settled into her duties with the Town of Raymond, Staples said her family is happy that she has a closer commute to work and not driving on the Maine Turnpike every day to get to her job.
The biggest misconception that the public may have about her work is that it’s slow and filled with periods of inactivity.
“The volume of phone calls during the day and the volume of permits that come in during the day and week say otherwise,” she said. “The numerous transactions and people seen or spoken to over the phone during the day is amazing.”
Since joining the Town of Raymond, Staples said she’s proud of the work that she performs on a daily basis, and she’s learned an important fact that serves her well in her work for the town.
“To be a team player, patience is a virtue and kindness goes a long way,” she said. <
According to Staples, the most challenging aspect of her work is time management.
“Some days you are constantly interrupted and so you need to be able to multi-task in this position,” she said.
Besides her position duties, Staples must demonstrate knowledge of business English, grammatical construction, spelling, punctuation, and arithmetic, and possess an excellent vocabulary. She is experienced in proper office practices, procedures and equipment and understands planning, zoning, and building procedures necessary to keep varied Code Enforcement records, to assemble and organize data, and to prepare standard reports from such records.
She also has considerable knowledge of the geographic layout of the town and is resourceful and able to find such information quickly.
“Touring the Town of Raymond with the assistant code officer to learn the current major projects and learning the road names and different sections of the town has been my most memorable moment working here so far,” Staples said. “I was amazed at all the little roads that lead to the different bodies of water here in town.”
She grew up in Cape Elizabeth and raised a family there. Staples attended what was then Westbrook College (now the University of New England) and earned an associate of art’s degree in business and merchandising. During her professional career, Staples has worked as an assessor’s assistant, planning department assistant, zoning board assistant, notary, motor vehicle clerk, as a proofreader for sales flyers for a major food chain and a ticket agent for Delta Airlines.
Now that she’s settled into her duties with the Town of Raymond, Staples said her family is happy that she has a closer commute to work and not driving on the Maine Turnpike every day to get to her job.
The biggest misconception that the public may have about her work is that it’s slow and filled with periods of inactivity.
“The volume of phone calls during the day and the volume of permits that come in during the day and week say otherwise,” she said. “The numerous transactions and people seen or spoken to over the phone during the day is amazing.”
Since joining the Town of Raymond, Staples said she’s proud of the work that she performs on a daily basis, and she’s learned an important fact that serves her well in her work for the town.
“To be a team player, patience is a virtue and kindness goes a long way,” she said. <
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