SEQUIM — Bob Spinks is coming to the end of the line as Sequim’s chief of police — last week he announced that July 2 will be his final day on the job — but he’s not at the end of his income.
Spinks will receive his salary of $7,192 per month at least through Sept. 1, thanks to a severance settlement he negotiated with Steve Burkett, the Sequim city manager who asked him to leave.
The departing chief also will be paid for the 353.24 hours of accrued vacation he didn’t take, meaning $14,655.93 will be tacked on to his last paychecks.
Then there’s the sick time Spinks didn’t use.
The city pays employees for 50 percent of that, so although he left 96.64 hours not taken, he’ll receive $2,004.59 for 48.32 hours of sick time.
The total so far: $31,044.52 paid on departure.
Full benefits
Spinks’ agreement also provides for full benefits, plus one more month’s salary beyond Sept. 1 if he doesn’t find other employment by Oct. 1.
This exit package is a “cushion,” Burkett said, provided for two reasons.
One: Spinks has devoted five years to Sequim’s top law enforcement position, and two, the severance agreement stipulates that he file no claims nor suits against the city, ever.
There’s a nondisparagement clause, too, ensuring that no city staffer will denigrate Spinks’ performance or qualifications, while Spinks will not disparage Sequim’s leadership.
The confidential agreement, obtained through a public records request by the Peninsula Daily News, also spells out a particular kind of claim Spinks won’t make: that of age discrimination.
Spinks, 51, has been saying — almost since he arrived here — that he wanted to retire in Sequim after many years leading its police force.
He has become a high-profile figure in town, lending moral support to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, attending chamber of commerce lunches where friends rush up to slap him on the back, and bringing his signature joviality to his oldies-music program, “The Five-O Show,” on the non-commercial KSQM-FM 91.5.
It was in March that Burkett told him to “look for greener pastures,” Spinks said.
Not a good match
Burkett said he considered Spinks no longer a good match for Sequim’s needs — and it seemed the two men’s personalities were likewise mismatched.
Burkett, a cool head who’s run the large cities of Tallahassee, Fla., Fort Collins, Colo., and Shoreline, has called Spinks “bombastic.”
He’s also said he wants to take Sequim’s department heads to a higher level as the community transitions from small town to small city.
So Spinks got busy, applying for positions with the Lebanon, Ore., Pullman and West Richland police departments.
None panned out, so “I’m still looking far and wide,” he said.
Meantime, Burkett got the Sequim City Council’s unanimous vote for raising the salary for the next police chief 10 percent, to a range of $86,400 to $106,000.
Spinks, whose annual salary is $86,299, could only shrug and quip, “I think that’s what I should have been paid all along.”
His severance agreement also contains an “assistance in transition” paragraph, noting that as Sequim searches for Spinks’ successor in July and August, “such assistance may include advice concerning the selection of a new chief . . . putting together an interview team, [and] preparation of a status report . . . which will assist a new chief in more easily coming ‘up to speed.'”
Interim chief
As Burkett gathers resumes from prospective police chiefs, Sequim Lt. Sheri Crain will serve as interim chief.
Burkett and Crain — Spinks’ opposite in both size and speaking style — had a long meeting Monday.
Before she becomes chief July 3, “I need to get her perspective on the bigger picture . . . and things we need to deal with in the next few months,” Burkett said.
Burkett said he was impressed by Crain’s “openness and candor,” and added, “She doesn’t tell you what you want to hear.”
Spinks, for his part, said he too believes strongly in government transparency.
He has said that he would rather stay and find work on the North Olympic Peninsula, since his wife, Connie, has close family members in Sequim.
And though he’s stepping down July 2, Spinks doesn’t call that quitting.
“Just to clarify,” he noted, “this was never my choice.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
