City Manager Tells Council To Give Perks To.....
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| City Manager Pat O'Keeffe |
The pre-dated January 15th memo recommends changing the current employment contract with the city to allow the City Manager 100% of accrued unused vacation and administrative leaves to be received in cash upon 'voluntary seperation' or retirement and is an increase over the current contract. Mr O'Keeffe further recommends allowing him to take 60% sick leave balance in cash and the city pays the remaining amount into his retirement account upon voluntary separation and any cost of living pay increases given to other managers also be given to him.
The City Manager currently receives some $215,000 per year plus benefits.
Mr O'Keeffe has had a rough go the last year, battling residents on a number of losing fronts. In the spring, he recommended privatizing the Child Development Center and called the assembled concerned parents "too emotional" and chided them that they needed to be "realistic". The council ultimately rejected Mr O'Keeffe's advice and the Child Center has been saved from the privatization scheme.
In the summer, Mr O'Keeffe supported the 'Lighting and Landscaping' tax ballot initiative, rejected by residents by more than 90% in the voting booth. Mr O'Keeffe told council members to go ahead and spend taxpayer money on setting up the election since the measure would pass "easily".
The City Manager also recommended the council allow an ill fated Ikea warehouse expansion on 53rd Street, a proposal that galvanized the neighborhood in opposition.
These and other policy failures culminated in the City Manager losing the confidence of the rest of the management at City Hall, forcing them to unionize in December.
The new two-year contract is meant to replace the current contract between the city and Mr O'Keeffe that expires on March 4th. The city council will decide on the City Manager's contract on Tuesday.
The Tattler reported on the previous iteration of the City Manager's employment contract in an October 18th edition.
The memo written by Mr O'Keeffe may be viewed here:
http://emeryville.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=29&meta_id=22743
According to their contract, the city should have started contract negotiations 5 months ago. I think it is a little late in the game to negotiate further. The city would be better served by a volunteer with the city's intrest in mind, say like Mr.Donahue.
ReplyDeleteI'm just the messenger.
ReplyDeletesounds like someone's trying to upgrade their golden parachute just before the jump.
ReplyDeleteThat greedy sumbitch gonna git wuts comin to em, i reckon
ReplyDeleteLet's not blow this out of proportion! In reality, the only change Mr. O'keeffe is asking for is the same benefit cash outs upon voluntary separation as he would get if he were let go. Now if he was fired or terminated because of disciplinary reasons, he would not be entitled to his sick leave buyback. Read the MESA MOU for details. Here is a brief rundown on what he is entitled to upon "separation in good standing"
ReplyDelete1. Payment of 60% of his accrued sick leave up to a maximum of 120 days. 120 days is equal to 960 hours, 60% of 960 hrs is 576 hours.
2. I don't know how many years of service he has but assuming it is 21 or greater he would get 25 days of vacation per year. The MOU allows 2 years on the books so the maximum he would be entitled to is 50 days if he hasn't used any in the last 2 years. 50 days is equal to 400 hrs at 100% buyback.
3. Admin days can be accrued at 10 days per year with no hold over so that gives him 80 hrs.
Assuming the $215k per year figure is correct, we know that he works 35 hours per week or 1820 hours per year. This gives him an hourly rate of $118. If you add 576 hrs plus 400 hours plus 80 hours the total is 1056 hours times $118/hr or a total cash out figure of $124,608. FYI- PERS does not allow pension spiking like some of the county 1937 act systems do, so none of this last year payout would count toward his pension. He will receive 2% of his annual salary for every year of service provided he is 55 years old. There you go!
I do not want to bash public servants, government workers, which appears to be all the rage these days. But it is enormously difficult to support this man and his policies. Of course he is getting ready to leave the sinking ship; with so much redevelopment debt (rd). Companies in the city supported through the RA and other means are now bailing out on paying their fair share. They all want reductions in taxes and yet they are all pulling in huge profits. It is the residents who will be left with the mess. Pat O'K and his merry band of staff will not have the ongoing work they now have if the RA disappears.
ReplyDeletePat O'Keeffe has only been with the city since old man Flores left for greener pastures....maybe what four years ago? Before that he was planning director in El Cerrito...apparently he shot the Redevelopment Agency's wad on some ugly claptrap townhouses at Del Norte BART (failed infill) and was behind the remodel of El Cerrito Plaza, which though an improvement over the previous dated design locks in the same, auto-centric, land-use for another half century. Old Patty deserves much more than 'six of the best' for his on-going failures.
ReplyDeletefuck this o keefe mutha...id like to stick a boot to his ass as soon as possible...sorry but that is all I have to say. everytime I go to a city council meeting its always the same...bullshit...final
ReplyDelete