Fernandina Beach City Commission agrees on terms for new City Clerk contract

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm

Reporter-News Analyst

During a special meeting of the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) on May 30, 2013, commissioner Pat Gass, seconded by Vice Mayor Charlie Corbett, moved to set the following terms for a contract with Jennifer Gooding, the FBCC’s choice to become the new City Clerk:

Salary:  $66,911, Gooding’s current salary as senior city planner;

·           Evaluation in 6 months, with possibility for salary increase at that time;

·          Gooding must complete all requirements to become a certified municipal clerk  by  January 1, 2016;

      Gooding  will carryover 4 weeks of earned vacation time into her first contract year.  At the end of that year, she will be allowed to carry over one week of unused vacation leave to the next year and will also be given another 4 weeks of vacation time for her second and subsequent years;

·       Gooding will be allowed to carry over 123.7 hours of earned sick leave into her new position, where she will continue to accrue 4 hours of sick leave every two weeks, the standard practice for city employees.  Should she leave her position as Clerk, she will only be able to cash out 96 hours of this leave;

·       The city will match up to 10% of her salary in contributions to a retirement plan;

·       She will be entitled to 8 weeks of severance pay, should her employment be terminated without cause.

The motion received unanimous support from the commissioners.   City Attorney Tammi Bach will fashion these points into a contract that will be presented as a Resolution at the June 4, 2013 City Commission meeting.  There was no input from Ms. Gooding, who attended the meeting in addition to 3 members of the public and two reporters.  Deputy City Clerk Kim Briley, who has served in the absence of the clerk since January, did not attend the meeting.

Mayor Sarah Pelican began the meeting with a proclamation declaring May 2013 to be “Civility Month.”  In remarking that this month was being proclaimed on May 30^th, she turned to Vice Mayor Corbett and said, “This gives you wiggle room, Commissioner Corbett.”  As it happened, the hour-long discussion was most civil, despite significant differences between the commissioners on the contract terms initially laid out, which had included a 6% raise over her current salary as a senior planner.

Commissioner Ed Boner began the discussion with concerns over hiring a new clerk at the high end of the advertised salary range and with the prospect of having 7 weeks of vacation time to use in her first year on the job.  He expressed his belief that the salary should track with Gooding’s acquiring certification as a municipal clerk. 

He cited former City Clerk Mary Mercer’s salary and asked, “Is it reasonable for her [Gooding] to start at a salary that she has now in her current position?”  He also cited the advertised range of salary that the FBCC had set, which topped out at $70,200.    He expressed concerns about loss of public confidence if the FBCC hired someone over the top range with no previous experience.  Commissioner Arlene Filkoff echoed Boner’s concern, adding that if Gooding began at the top range of the salary, there would be no opportunity for her to earn more with time “even if her performance knocks our socks off.”  Both Boner and Filkoff expressed their discomfort and apologies to Gooding for needing to conduct discussions over terms of employment in public, emphasizing that their concerns were meant to reflect their need to look after the city’s financial position and overall human resources policy.  They expressed no reservations that Gooding would be a capable employee who could master the job and meet the qualifications over a reasonable period of time.

Mayor Pelican disagreed with foregoing an initial raise for Gooding, citing her experience in the private sector where a change in position always involved a “bump up” in salary.  She also defended selecting Gooding over the actual applicants for the advertised position.  She added, “There is a lot of misinformation out there.  My impression from discussions at commission meetings was that we were not happy with the pool of candidates [for the clerk’s position].  There were not 20-30 qualified applicants.”  Boner replied that he thought there were 4-5 people in that pool that he would have liked to interview.

Commissioner Gass tried to focus commissioners on areas of agreement, such as retirement contributions and setting the January 1, 2016 deadline for completing requirements to obtain municipal clerk certification.

But commissioners had significant differences over severance pay, which is limited by state law to 20 weeks.  Filkoff and Boner wanted to limit Gooding’s severance to 5 weeks, the same amount provided to the city manager in his contract.  Pelican, however, expressed concerns that with elections another commission might move to let Gooding go for political reasons.  Therefore she believed that 8 weeks severance was more appropriate.  She asked City Manager Gerrity to talk about his severance pay provision, and he replied that he did not feel comfortable doing that.  Filkoff said that all the charter officers – manager, attorney and clerk – can be in troubled waters because of politics, and they know that by nature of the job.   She expressed her belief that 5 weeks severance pay was closer to the private sector model, which she believed the city was attempting to model.

While Pelican and Gass seemed to be holding out for some raise, even if only 3% as opposed to the original 6% that was proposed, Boner and Filkoff remained adamant.  Finally Vice Mayor Corbett, the deciding vote, weighed in saying that the difference was only about $2,000.  He asked if the FBCC could compromise on 8 weeks of severance and no raise going into the position, but with a proviso for the consideration of a raise after Gooding’s 6-month evaluation.  Ultimately, this position prevailed, despite some additional discussion.

Commissioner Pat Gass said that she had originally suggested the 6% raise because that had seemed to be the practice when city employees took on added duties in addition to their regular positions to serve in “acting” capacity.  City Attorney Bach also stressed to the FBCC that Ms. Gooding, should she accept this offer, would be moving from the ranks of city employees, who are covered under the Pay and Classification Act, to being an at will contract employee.  She advised commissioners to remember that those are two different categories of employment.  Bach will also bring to the June 4^th FBCC a work-up showing how much total savings the city will accrue by hiring Ms. Gooding over the terms of this contract, since the retirement contribution has dropped significantly from that afforded to the previous clerk.

The next step it would appear is for Jennifer Gooding to decide if the city’s offer is acceptable to her.  If that is the case, she would begin her duties next week.

Editor’s Note:  Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city.  We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.

May 30, 2013 11:15 p.m.