TITLE
INTERIM CITY CLERK COMPENSATION
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that Council approve a motion to authorize a non-recurring payment of $30,000 to the Interim City Clerk and award 3 weeks (120 hours) of vacation with no expiration on when those days can be used except that they must be used prior to the use of any traditionally accrued vacation days.
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Summary
The incumbent Interim City Clerk has performed the duties since July 17, 2018 and is anticipated to continue in that capacity until a permanent City Clerk is recruited and retained. These duties have also been carried out without the benefit of an Assistant City Clerk due to a vacancy. The total anticipated time in the role is approximately one year. To date, the Interim City Clerk has received no compensation for the additional duties which has resulted in a savings to the City of $119,000 for the City Clerk vacancy in addition to $75,878 for the Assistant City Clerk. Given the unusual nature of having one person simultaneously perform duties within the offices of two separate City Council appointees, some form of compensation is warranted. Rather than allocating the full salary of $141,574 (City Clerk) or $228,687 (City Clerk + Assistant City Clerk), it is recommended that the City provide compensation in the form of only a small portion of the savings created by the vacancy which will allow the City to capture the bulk of the savings to be redirected toward other priorities. The recommendation is a non-recurring payment of $30,000 and the award of 3 weeks (120 hours) of vacation with no expiration on when those days can be used except that they must be used prior to the use of any traditionally accrued vacation days.
DISUCSSION
Background
The previous City Clerk was promoted to that position on January 23, 2018 and vacated the office on July 13, 2018 without advance notice. A heightened sensitivity existed around the filling of this position because of the circumstances leading up to the vacancy, the short duration of time since the previous recruitment had taken place, the number and compensation rates for recent and competing City Clerk recruitments in the region (more than $100k higher than the Stockton salary), and the additional vacancy of the Assistant City Clerk position.
In order to effectuate a smooth and timely transition for what was originally envisioned to be a 1-2 month period, the Council (with the consent of the City Manager) appointed Mr. Clegg to the position with the understanding that he would simultaneously fill his Deputy City Manager I role and the City Clerk role.
The initial process continued as planned with Mr. Clegg taking on the role and the Council quickly identifying a potential appointee from the recent applicant pool. The process appeared to be complete as the Council acted in open session to appoint a new candidate as the City Clerk. Despite the candidate’s favorable and appreciative comments of acceptance following the appointment at the Council meeting, he later sent a text message indicating that he would not be taking the position. He effectively leveraged the offer to negotiate more favorable terms with his current employer.
By this time, the holiday season was near and recruitments during that time tend to be less robust. The Council directed staff to restart the recruitment process early in 2019. That process has begun. The application period will close this week, with potential candidate interviews occurring in March or April and a hire date in May or June. In the meantime, Mr. Clegg continues to perform multiple roles.
Short-term durations of added assignments within my subordinates is a normal part of doing business. Each member of the City Manager’s executive team has routinely filled in on short-term assignments to accommodate vacancies or special project needs. This arrangement, however, falls outside of those practices for two reasons.
First, although envisioned to have been a short-term assignment of one to two months, it is on pace to be approximately a one-year assignment. This is a significant departure from the original intent of the appointment and has created an unnecessary burden on Mr. Clegg.
The second distinction is that, unlike traditional assignments where one person in the City Manager’s chain of command fills the position of another person in the City Manager’s chain of command, this vacancy occurred outside the City Manager’s chain of command. In accordance with the Charter, the City Attorney, City Auditor, City Clerk, and City Manager are all direct reports to the City Council. Each of the four areas has a separate and distinct function from the other three. While it is common for people within the subordinate ranks of a single Council appointee to take on new roles under the purview of the same appointee, this arrangement runs contrary to past practice by asking an employee to simultaneously take on two distinct roles within separate appointment structures. Consequently, it is not analogous to traditional temporary increases in workload.
Productivity within the City Clerk’s office has not suffered as a result of the vacancies even as the demands have increased. The City has effectively benefitted by having the full productivity while benefiting from the salary savings associated with two key vacancies. During the anticipated period of one year, the City will save an estimated $334,000 (Clerk fully loaded cost of $204,000 plus Assistant Clerk fully loaded cost of $130,000). In the absence of further action on the part of the Council to address compensating Mr. Clegg, he will not receive any compensation for this assignment. Compensation for Council appointees is not subject to the Civil Service process and the Council retains broad authority to identify and implement fair compensation.
It would be common practice to enter into an employment contract for a Council appointee. The original duration was only expected to be one to two months, so no such contract was used. At this point, a contract would be warranted but not required. The Council retains the authority to identify and provide compensation.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
Should Council approve the recommendation, a one-time payment of $30,000 would be made from vacancy savings in the General Fund City Clerk budget account 010-1101-510. Sufficient funds are appropriated and available. Additionally, 3 weeks (120 hours) of vacation would also be allocated which does not represent a direct cost but reduction in hours worked by the employee. If the employee were to separate prior to using any of the additional leave hours, the value of these hours would be approximately $8,500.