The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Council approves contract changes
City Administrator Dan Bishop applauded for overall performance
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2007
After giving Milan's city administrator an exemplary review, the City Council Monday night approved changes to his employment contract, including the addition of a one-week vacation bonus.
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In a 6-1 vote, with Council Trustee Mike Armitage voting against the measure, the council also approved a change in the city administrator's severance agreement.
Dan Bishop, who was hired last March as city administrator for Milan, is giving the city more than its money's worth, said council member Doug Gilson, who voted in favor of the contract changes.
The original contract's severance language allowed for the payment of a lump cash sum equal to "the difference between the amount of notice given by the city and the 180-day notice requirement. The new language requires the city to pay Bishop 180 days' worth of pay and benefits if he is fired with less than 180 days notice.
The contract was also changed to give Bishop seven additional vacation days, up from 14.
"(Bishop) was willing to forego a raise in the light of our difficult financial times," said council member Martha Churchill in support of the changes.
Bishop currently earns a salary of $75,000 a year. He is also provided a car and other benefits.
The council approved the contract changes even as it continues to come under criticism from the city's first mayor, Millard Phillips, for not instituting a pay cut for council members in light of budget difficulties.
Phillips first made the suggestion that council members cut their wages by 50 percent for the next two to three years as a step toward reducing the city's deficit of more than $600,000, but such an action would be illegal. Instead, a proposal was placed on the agenda that council members "donate" money back to the city to support projects such as the annual fireworks.
At its Dec. 4 meeting, council let the motion to discuss the idea die for lack of support.
In a memo to the council, Phillips wrote that he was not surprised by the council's lukewarm response to his pay-cut proposal, but he was disappointed that the council declined to even discuss it.
"It was one of the best 'stonewalling' of a proposal that I have ever seen in my 42 years of public service," Phillips wrote. "It seems to me that the citizens of Milan should, at the very least, have heard the reasons for rejecting the idea."
He pointed to the Saline City Council's recent decision to turn down a recommended pay increase.
The annual budget for the City Council and mayor's wages is $31,290. Council members receive a monthly base pay of $265 and $55 for each regular council meeting they attend. They receive no additional pay for work sessions, special meetings or committee work.
The council's salary is determined by the local Elected Officers Compensation Commission, which is made up of five members that meet bi-annually to set the salary. The commission considers council salaries of surrounding communities when making its determination.
Most of the council members felt at the time that donations should be made privately rather than publicly.
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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