Up Close and Personal in

UP CLOSE &

PERSONAL In the Field

Welcome to Up Close and Personal – In the Field, a regular column in New Hampshire Town and City dedicated to giving readers a closer look at staff from New Hampshire municipalities and other political subdivisions. In this issue, we hope you enjoy meeting Tim Metivier, former Code Enforcement/Health Officer for the City of Somersworth and soon-to-be Building Inspector for the City of Portsmouth. Congrats on your new position, Tim!

Tim Metiver

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TC: What are your duties and responsibilities as Code Enforcement/Health Officer?

TM: By the time this goes to print, I will be a building inspector for the City of Portsmouth. As Code Enforcement/Health Officer for the City of Somersworth, I inspected construction work for code compliance, and respond to complaints from citizens about health issues, or concerns about construction techniques or methods.

TC: What is your biggest challenge in performing your duties?

TM: The balance between getting citizens to do the right thing and the right way, without causing complaints to reach upper management, which is sometimes unavoidable. Approach and delivery of your findings to the worker’s noncompliance makes the difference between reluctant agreement, or your manager getting called before you even drive off the job site.

TC: How has NHMA helped you to do your job?

TM: Training and education opportunities for one, but more importantly, since our small city doesn’t have a legal department, getting legal direction from the NHMA legal department has been most valuable.

TC: Give us an example of a problem you solved or a dilemma you faced and overcame in the line of duty?

TM: During a rough inspection for the transition of small and old post and beam barn, to a home, the contractor cut all four of the angle braced corners between the beams to the post so he could frame in new windows, as the customer wanted. I discovered that some of the tendons were moving out of the mortises. The building was spreading out! I coached this contractor through the installations of special bracketing, threaded rod and oversized washers. He was able to crank the structure back tight, saving it, his customers home, possible personal injury and a possible lawsuit. He was very grateful. A nice letter of gratitude was sent to my superiors and city council.

TC: What is the public perception about your job and how does it differ from the reality of your job?

TM: I can only speak for me and not my profession, I feel the public originally had a perception of “The Building Inspector” as the person who is going to just point out errors and demand remedy without guidance. It’s possible that’s how my predecessor handled it. I don’t know. Now after 15 years, I find the general population uses me as a resource, most of the time anyway.

TC: Has your public position changed you personally?

TM: Maybe but only a little. I am more careful about where I go, who I talk to, and things I say. I may have information or knowledge that sometimes is confidential. I also need to be more upstanding than my neighbors. I am not only representing myself, but the community I work in, my coworkers and my profession, at all times.

TC: Has your job changed the way you look at the role of government?

TM: Yes and no. Somethings happen where I feel that government needs to step up and be a better protector of its citizens and their rights. i.e., if a tenant isn’t getting the plumbing fixed in her unit from an unresponsive landlord, government needs to act within the provisions of the law and help in a timely manner. Sometimes that doesn’t happen, whether the reasons are budgetary, or politics, or perhaps a lack of understanding the role correctly.