Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Golden parachutes?


If the resignation of Ketchum Fire Chief Greg Schwab was voluntary, why did the city fork out $100,000 to him?

What did the chief have—described by City Council member Baird Gourlay as "vested rights"—that were so powerful that the city had to pay $100,000 to buy them?

Gourlay downplayed the pay-out as something like a golden parachute—money sometimes paid out to corporate executives when they leave the job.

However, golden parachutes are usually specified in advance in employment contracts, and the events that trigger parachute pay-outs are more often than not specified in advance and in writing.

The city says it had no employment contract with the chief. It has produced no agreement that called for any kind of golden parachute for the chief.

That leaves taxpayers to conclude that the city offered up $100,000 of tax money—not exactly chickenfeed—voluntarily.

Prior to former Mayor Ed Simon and now Mayor Randy Hall, many city employees who had worked for the city for decades retired or voluntarily quit their jobs. They received little more than a handshake when they departed.

Will the city's new largesse continue.

Can taxpayers count on more pay-outs to public servants who quit "voluntarily" in the future? If so, savvy job seekers should line up at the door of City Hall to land these lucrative sinecures.

With no contracts and apparently no rules, the City Council seems to be free to play fast and loose with the public purse.

City officials adamantly refuse to discuss the pay-out deal even though they and Schwab promised only not to engage in "libel or slander" on the subject.

So, here's a plan. How about discussing the city's "golden parachute" policies with the public—the people who pay the bills?




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