After roughly an hour of questions, answers, suggestions, and general discussion, the City of Newton Employee Relations Committee decided to recommend to the city council as a whole the creation of two new positions and the elimination of another.

The committee, which consists of councilors Michael Hansen, Noreen Otto and Jeff Price, recommended the city create a Comptroller position, as well as an executive assistant/city clerk position. To facilitate the move and offset the potential increase in expense, the position of director of administrative service — currently held by Candice Van Zee — was recommended for elimination.

Hansen said he was concerned about creating a new director of finance position that wouldn’t have a department staff to supervise. All three committee members agreed changing the job title to Comptroller and dropping from Range 13 to Range 12 on the city’s pay matrix.