1. City Manager Employment AgreementCity of Kalispell
Post Office Box 1997 - Kalispell, Montana 59903
Telephone: (406) 758-7701 Fax: (406) 758-7758
June 25, 2009
TO: Mayor & Council
FRM: Interim City Manager4ze �
Re: Employment Agreement- Jane Howington
Attached is the completed employment agreement for Jane Howington to join the city as the
permanent city manager. She has signed the agreement.
A brief description of the compensation sections in the agreement are:
• Base salary- $112,500 year.
• Deferred compensation- city will pay $5000 annually into the deferred compensation plan
of her choice.
• Severance- 3 months
• Vehicle- city will provide a vehicle for official and limited personal use. Personal use will
be limited to Flathead County.
• Retirement- PERS.
• Medical/dental- family plan with usual contribution.
• Vacation- 120 hours/ year. City will provide 80 hours initially when employment begins.
• Sick leave- 96 hours annually. Available immediately.
• Moving expenses- actual expenses not to exceed $20,000.
Ms. Howington's first day of work is anticipated to be August 4, 2009.
Recommendation: Council approve Employment Agreement with Jane Howington.
THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into this day of June, 2009 by and between
the CITY OF KALISPELL, State of Montana, a municipal corporation, hereinafter called "City",
as party of the first part, and Jane M. Howington, hereinafter called "Employee", as party of the
second part, both of whom understand as follows:
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS, City desires to employ the services of said Jane M. Howington as City
Manager of the City of Kalispell as provided by the City Code, City Ordinance, and applicable
Montana Codes.
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City to provide certain benefits, establish certain
conditions of employment, and to set working conditions of said Employee; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City to (1) secure and retain the services of "Employee"
and to provide inducement for her to remain in such employment; (2) to make possible full work
productivity by assuring Employee's morale and peace of mind with respect to future security;
(3) to act as a deterrent against malfeasance or dishonesty on the part of the Employee; and (4) to
provide a just means for terminating Employee's services at such time as she may be unable fully
to discharge her duties due to disability or when the City may desire to otherwise terminate her
employment; and
WHEREAS, Employee desires to accept employment as the City Manager of said City;
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, the
parties hereto agree as follows:
SECTION l: DUTIES
The City of Kalispell hereby agrees to employ said Jane M. Howington as City Manager of said
City to perform the functions and duties specified in the City Code and to perform such other
legally permissible and proper duties and functions, as the City Council shall from time to time
assign.
A. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the
City to terminate the services of Employee at any time, subject only to the provisions of
the City Code and as set forth in Section 3, Paragraphs A and B of this Agreement.
Paragraphs A and B of Section 3 shall not be applicable if the Employee is found to be
unable to discharge her duties due to any type of disability or inability to perform up to
normal standards of City Management as determined by the City Council.
CITY MANAGER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT Page - 1 of 8
B. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the
Employee to resign at any time from her position with the City subject only to the
provisions set forth in Section 3 of this Agreement.
C. Employee agrees to remain in the exclusive employ of Employer indefinitely beginning
on or about the 4th day of August 2009 and neither to accept other employment nor to
become employed by any other employer during said employment. The term,
"employed", shall not be construed to include occasional teaching, writing, or consulting
performed on employee's time off. The terms and conditions of this agreement shall be
reviewed by the Council and Employee annually at the first regular council meeting
following the anniversary date of this agreement.
A. In the event Employee is terminated for any reason, except those reasons set forth in
paragraph (B) below, by the City during the term of employment, and said Employee is
willing and able to perform the duties of City Manager, then in that event the City agrees
to pay Employee a lump sum cash payment equal to three (3) months of the current
annual base salary.
B. Notwithstanding paragraph (A) above, the following reasons shall constitute
grounds to terminate the employment of the Employee without severance pay:
(i) violation of the residency requirement set forth in Section 6;
(ii) a willful breach of this agreement or the willful and repeated
neglect by the Employee to perform duties that she is required to
perform;
(iii) conviction of any criminal act relating to employment with the
City;
(iv) conduct, relating to City employment, which, while not
necessarily criminal in nature, violates the City's established work
rules or standards of conduct in some substantial manner;
(v) conviction of a felony.
C. Prior to the time that the City Council terminates the Employee without severance pay for
any of the reasons set forth above, and only in that case, the City Council shall provide
the Employee with written notice of proposed termination, which contains the reason and
factual basis for such action. Within five (5) days of such notice, the Employee may
request an opportunity to respond to the reasons and factual basis provided by the City
Council. If such a request to respond is made, the City Council shall conduct a meeting
in a closed Executive Session, which may be informal in nature, at which the Employee
may respond to the notice of proposed termination. At such meeting, the Employee may
be represented by an attorney of her choice and present evidence or information relevant
to the reasons and factual basis set forth in the notice of proposed termination.
Subsequently, the decision of the City Council as to whether reasons set forth in Section
3, Paragraph B exist or do not exist shall be final as between the parties.
CITY MANAGER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT Page - 2 of 8
D. In the event the City, at any time during the employment term, reduces the salary or other
financial benefits of Employee in a greater percentage than an applicable
across-the-board reduction for all city employees, or in the event the City refuses,
following written notice, to comply with any other provision benefiting Employee herein,
or the Employee resigns following a suggestion by a majority of the City Council that she
resign, then in that event, Employee may, at her option, be deemed to be "terminated" at
the date of such reduction or such refusal to comply, within the meaning and context of
the severance pay provision contained in Section 3, paragraph A of the Agreement.
E. In the event Employee voluntarily resigns her position with the City after beginning, then
Employee shall give the City 30 days notice in advance unless mutually agreed
otherwise. Employee in the event of voluntary resignation forfeits any claim to cash
payment under Section 3 (A), above.
SECTION 4: BASE SALARY: COMPENSATION ADJUSTMENTS
A. The City agrees to pay Employee for her services rendered pursuant hereto an annual
base salary of ONE HUNDRED TWELVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED
($112,500.00) DOLLARS payable in installments at the same time as other employees of
the City are paid.
B. In addition, the City Council agrees to review compensation annually at the date of
employment anniversary date during the employment of the Employee. It is agreed by
the Employer that any annual salary increase provided to Employee shall not be in an
amount less than the average cost of living increase given to other employees of
Employer.
SECTION 5: PERFORMANCE EVALUATION.
The City Council shall review and evaluate in writing the performance of the Employee at least
once annually. That review and evaluation shall be in accordance with specific criteria
developed in consultation with the City Council and the Employee. Those criteria may be added
to or deleted from as the City Council may from time to time determine, in consultation with the
Employee.
SECTION 6: RESIDENCY.
Employee shall establish within six (6) months of employment her principal place of residency
within the corporate limits of the City and maintain such residency at all times during the term of
this Agreement. The Employee shall notify the Personnel Department of any change in address
within five (5) working days of such change.
CITY MANAGER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT Page - 3 of 8
A. It is recognized the Employee must devote a great deal of her time outside normal office
hours to business of the City and to that end Employee will be allowed to take reasonable
time off as she shall deem appropriate.
B. The express prior approval of the City Council shall be required prior to Employee's
commitment to teaching, or consulting on any non -city connected business activities.
The city will provide a city vehicle for use by the Employee. This includes fuel, insurance and
repairs. The vehicle may be kept at the Employee's residence and used to commute to the
Employee's place of work as well as any other normal use. The Employee agrees not to take the
vehicle out of Flathead County unless the purpose is official business.
The City agrees to budget and to pay the professional dues and subscriptions of Employee
necessary for her continuation and full participation in national, regional, state and local
associations and organizations necessary and desirable for her continued professional
participation, growth and advancement, and for the good of the City. The City will further
budget and pay for the membership dues to local civic organizations, such as Rotary, to which
the Employee may belong as a representative of the City. The budget for this item as well as for
Professional Development set forth below in Section 10 for FY2009/2010 shall be $3,900.00.
A. The City hereby agrees to budget and pay the travel and subsistence expenses of
Employee for professional and official travel, meetings, and occasions adequate to
continue the professional development of Employee and to adequately pursue necessary
official and other functions for the City including, but not limited to, the Annual
Conference of the International City Management Association or the National League of
Cities Conferences, Montana City Management Association, the League of Montana
Cities and Towns, and such other committees which Employee serves as approved by the
City Council.
B. The City also agrees to budget and to pay for the travel and subsistence expenses of
Employee for short courses, institutes and seminars that are necessary for her
professional development and for the good of the City as approved by the City Council.
SECTION 11: HEALTH INSURANCE
The City agrees to provide and to pay the premium for medical insurance for the Employee and
that portion of the premium for her dependents as all other city employees are entitled, as part of
the City's group health insurance program. In the event the Employee is able to secure health
CITY MANAGER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT Page - 4 of 8
insurance for herself and her family from an alternative source, the City agrees to pay to
Employee such sums necessary for the Employee to pay for said health insurance coverage, up to
that amount it would otherwise contribute for its share of the Employee's and her family's
coverage under the City's group health insurance program.
SECTION 12: RETIREMENT
The City shall contribute to Employee's Montana State PERS retirement plan in the same
percentage contribution as all other city employees.
On an annual basis, the City shall pay the sum of $5,000.00 into the Employee's qualified
deferred compensation program.
A. Employee's moving expenses shall be reimbursed by the City at 100% of total costs, up
to the sum of approximately $20,000.00. If the Employee receives three estimates which
exceed this cap, the actual costs within average of these estimates will be reimbursed.
This will include all household items from Dayton, Ohio to Kalispell, Montana. The
Employee shall be allowed up to five days of personal leave without the need to use
vacation leave benefits to tend to the details of moving her household. If the Employee
voluntarily leaves city employment within three years the employee will reimburse the
city the moving expenses on a pro rata basis.
B. The City, in agreement with the Employee, shall fix any such other terms and conditions
of employment as may be determined from time to time relating to the performance of
Employee, provided such terms and conditions are not inconsistent with or in conflict
with the City Code or any other law.
C. All provisions of the City Code and regulations and rules of the City relating to vacation
and sick leave, holidays, and other employee benefits and working conditions as they
now exist or hereafter may be amended, also shall apply to Employee as they would to
other employees of the City in addition to said benefits enumerated specifically herein for
the benefits of Employee except if they are in conflict with the express provision of the
Agreement, in which case this Agreement shall prevail.
D. Employee shall accrue vacation leave benefits in accordance with the provisions of the
City Code and regulations and rules of the City except that Employee shall begin to
accrue vacation leave benefits at a rate of 120 hours per fiscal year. The City shall
provide to the Employee 80 hours of vacation leave at the beginning of this Agreement.
E. Employee shall begin to accrue sick leave benefits immediately which shall become
available upon employment. Employee shall accrue sick leave benefits at a rate
commensurate with the rate of other City employees. Upon termination, voluntary or
CITY MANAGER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT Page - 5 of 8
otherwise, Employee shall be paid for the balance of unused sick leave in accordance
with the State law, City Code and regulations and rules of the City.
F. If Employee is permanently disabled or is otherwise unable to perform her duties because
of sickness, accident, injury, mental incapacity or health for a period of four successive
weeks beyond any accrued sick leave, or of twenty working days over a thirty working
day period, Employer shall have the option to terminate this agreement, subject to the
severance pay requirements in Section 3. However, Employee shall be compensated for
any accrued sick leave, vacation, holidays and other accrued benefits, unless otherwise
provided by law.
G. City shall defend and indemnify the Employee against any action, including but not
limited to any: tort, professional liability claim or demand, or other noncriminal legal,
equitable or administrative action, whether groundless or otherwise, arising out of an
alleged act or omission occurring in the performance of the Employee's duties as an
employee or officer of the City, other than an action brought by the City against the
Employee, or an action filed against the City by the Employee. City shall be responsible
for and have authority to compromise and settle any action, with prior consultation with
Employee, and pay the amount of any settlement or judgment rendered on that action.
Employee shall cooperate fully with the City in the settlement, compromise, preparation
of the defense, or trial of any such action.
H. All terms of the Kalispell City Personnel Policy, as now adopted or later amended, not
inconsistent with or otherwise fully addressed in this agreement, shall apply to the
Employee.
SECTION 15: GENERAL, PROVISIONS
A. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefits of the heirs, devisees,
legatees or executors of the Employee.
B. If any provisions or any portion thereof contained in this Agreement is held to be
unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement, or portion
thereof, shall be deemed severable, shall not be affected, and shall remain in full force
and effect.
C. The City shall acquire and bear the full cost of any fidelity or other bonds required of the
Employee under any law or ordinance.
CITY MANAGER EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT Page - 6 of 8
bblGO(Lbby 12:2b y31-228-I229 FEDEX OFFICE 0175 PAGE 02
.IN WITNESS WHEREOF t,ie City of Kalispell, on a vote of its City Council has caused this
Agreement to be signed a xc. executed in its behalf by its. Mayor and duly attested by its City
Clerk, on the day and year first above written.
Pamela B. Kennedy
Mayor
City of Kalispell
State of Montana
ATTEST:
Theresa White
City Clerk of Council
ane M. tiowington
Employee
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. 06/25/2009 12:26 937-228-7229 FEDEX OFFICE 0175 PAGE 03
STATE OF MONTANA )
SS
County of Flathead )
On this day o " Tune, 2009, before me, a Notary Public in and for the State of
Montana;, personally appeared Pamela B. Kennedy, and Theresa White, known to me to be the
Mayor and City Clerk of +C ouncil of the City of Kalispell, a municipality, that executed the
within instrument, and ack nowledged that such Mayor and City Clerk of Council subscribed,
sealed and delivered said i 'istrumeat as the free and voluntary act of said municipality, for the
uses and purposes thereua � iet forth, and that they were duty authorized to execute the same on
behalf of said municipality.
IN WITNESS Wf, ,FRE'OF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my Notarial Seal, the
day and year first above written.
STATE OF OHIO
:ss
County of Montgomery
Printed Name
Notary Public, State of Montana
Residing at Kalispell, Montana
My Commission expires:
On this r dq of .Tune, 2009, before me, a Notary Public in and for the State of
Ohio personally appearod Jane M. Howington, .known to .rm to be the person whose name is
subscribed to the foregoin;; instrument, and acknowledged to me that she executed the same.
IN WITNESS V 1 I.EREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my Notarial Seal,
the day and year in the eeidficate last above written.
J
Prin Name
Notary Public for the State of Ohio
Residing at: � �� ,� v Gil
My Commission. Expires: ".
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