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UPDATE, Friday, Feb. 27: Deb Smith, in a brief phone interview this morning, expressed gratitude to the dozens of residents who’ve offered thanks and support for her 27 years of work at the Recreation Dept. Smith said she has received numerous calls and e-mails, in addition to the comments left on this Web site. “I am humbled,” said Smith. “It’s been overwhelming.” Smith added that she does not feel prepared right now to talk more about her layoff from the city. ORIGINAL POST, Tuesday: Long-time city worker Deb Smith remembers hiring 12-year-old Jim Gailey to work for the recreation department many years ago. At 8:20 a.m. today, City Manager Jim Gailey informed Smith she no longer had a job with the city. Effective immediately. Smith, the 54-year-old operations manager at the popular center, was then escorted from the building by Assistant City Manager Erik Carson. She had five minutes to collect her things, as he waited by her office door. “I’m devastated,” Smith said in a phone interview. “I’m still in shock. No one ever had anything but praise for the work I did at the center. My departure will be felt there.” Smith is among five workers who were laid off from their jobs with the city today. Some had spent their entire careers there. Just Google “Deb Smith, South Portland” and you will see her name on a myriad of popular programs the city offered to residents. Smith also oversaw the pre-school center, which has readied hundreds of youngsters for kindergarten and a formal education. Smith said she tried to run a tight ship at the rec center, and in recent weeks made sure that everyone filled his or her job well, since layoffs were expected. She did not want to lose any of her employees. Smith said she did not see or hear from her boss, Dana Anderson, when she was dismissed from her job of 27 years. “I hoped to have another 5-10 years with the city,” she said. “Now I’ll be looking for a job. I’m a positive person and I have a good reputation. When one door closes, another opens.” Smith said she was told that typically laid-off workers get two weeks’ notice. But Gailey, accompanied by Carson and HR Director John McGough, told her that legal counsel advised the city to give her two weeks’ pay and have her leave immediately. She also will receive her remaining vacation pay, a percentage of sick time and one week’s pay for every two years worked, she said. Smith’s health insurance is good until the end of next month. Then she will have to buy into a COBRA or she will have the opportunity to continue receiving city-sponsored health insurance for 18 months, if she pays full price. “I’ll find another job,” she said. “I’ll survive. But why did they pick me?” http://www.southportlander.com/index.php/769/

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