SEQUIM — Veteran City Council member Walt Schubert hasn’t hidden his disgust with what he calls a “dysfunctional” group of elected officials.
Back in May he bitterly disagreed with Ken Hays, Susan Lorenzen, Erik Erichsen and Mayor Laura Dubois — the four freshly elected council members — after they voted to fire City Manager Bill Elliott.
Then on Monday night, two weeks after the council interviewed three finalist candidates for Elliott’s position and hired none, Schubert showed a reporter a page full of high prices.
Letting Elliott go, with pay for his 90 days’ notice, a $1,000 car allowance, accrued sick time, medical and retirement benefits and the rest of his severance package, cost $158,596 according to the list, which Schubert obtained from city Administrative Services Director Karen Goschen.
And that was just the beginning.
Costs will total an estimated $364,465 for Elliott’s severance package, hiring interim city managers, and recruiting a permanent manager, according to Goschen’s report.
She estimated that the total amount spent in 2008 would be $195,248, while in 2009, the city would spend $169,217.
Breaking it down
Paying Police Chief Robert Spinks to serve as interim city manager from May through November has cost an additional $56,189.
Since Spinks promoted Sequim Police Sgt. Sheri Crain to lieutenant so she could run the Police Department, she’s received an additional $6,650 in pay since May.
The search for a permanent manager has so far cost $2,080 in advertising, $3,230 for consultant Lee Walton, $688 in extra legal fees and $2,140 for finalists’ travel and lodging.
The city spent $812 on food for a reception and meals on Nov. 7 and 8, when the candidates came to town.
Staff time was also a big ticket.
Human Resources Manager Kathy Brown, City Attorney Craig Ritchie and the heads of five other city departments devoted $19,080 in hours to the manager search, Goschen reported.
The council did make progress Monday night toward a new leader for Sequim.
The members voted to hire Linda Herzog, Mercer Island’s interim deputy city manager, to be Sequim’s interim chief. Ritchie is negotiating her salary and benefits, and expects to present them to the council in early December.
Goschen estimates that Sequim will have to pay $10,000 per month for the interim manager’s pay and housing for eight months.
She also estimated $10,000 for relocation in 2009, and $25,000 for recruiting in 2009.
More expenses
In addition to Goschen’s projections, the council voted on Monday to hire Waldron & Co., a Seattle human resources firm, to recruit a permanent city manager and a Public Works director to replace James Bay, who retired April 25. The fees: $20,000 and $18,000, respectively.
Waldron also was hired to facilitate a half-day team-building meeting for the council at a cost of $2,000.
Erichsen voted against that, saying he doesn’t believe the members needs a consultant to help them get along.
Schubert, however, called team-building the most important part of the city-manager recruitment plan.
“It’s high time,” added Bill Huizinga, another longtime council member, “that we have a professional to lead us to some kind of common ground.”
Richard Cushing, the Waldron vice president who addressed the council on Monday, said he’ll schedule the team-building session after Herzog’s arrival — and well before he starts the search for a permanent manager in February or March. He hopes to have a chief installed at City Hall by next summer.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
