MONROE - Following adjustments at the city level, City Clerk Carol Stamm proposed a severance agreement accepted by the Monroe Common Council Tuesday; she will be leaving her position Jan. 5.
"I will miss it," Stamm said. "The city is restructuring, and I wanted to pursue some new endeavors."
City Administrator Phil Rath verified Stamm made the decision to submit an agreement after the Salary and Personnel Committee "issued an opportunity for employees to suggest proposals identifying what (a severance agreement) would look like and what it would potentially look like for the city moving forward."
"Employees were asked to present what it was they were looking for as far as incentive, what was their benefit to the package, and then also, how would that benefit the city?" Rath said. "Is it somebody that's a tenured employee and you hire somebody and there might be savings from that new hire? You can restructure things and that's going to have some cost savings. Whatever it might be."
He said Stamm submitted the agreement proposal to the committee, which agreed to her terms and submitted it to the council for final approval.
The vote was unanimous among all nine aldermen Tuesday.
"Carol's been a valued employee for the city, and it'll be sad to see her leave," Rath said. "There are no disciplinary issues or anything like that."
Stamm began her tenure with the city Nov. 9, 1998, as deputy clerk, taking on the role of city clerk in 2006 and currently served in that role as well as the director of general government. The agreement specifies that Stamm will receive a lump sum of just over $31,000 on, or prior to, Jan. 18, which equates to half of her annual salary. She will receive health insurance benefits through the end of January, and the city will compensate Stamm with roughly $7,000 as a replacement for about five months of projected insurance contribution. She will also receive just under $9,000 in accumulated paid-time-off benefits.
Rath said finding a replacement will likely take about two months. In the interim, Assistant City Administrator Sam Liebert will oversee contracts with the assessor, the taxi service and other agreements with the city. An interim clerk will likely be announced during the Jan. 2 council meeting, Rath said.
He added that the city will likely delegate certain duties previously overseen by Stamm to other staff members, making the job description different than the position she will soon leave, potentially saving the city in employee costs.
"The committee looks at those on a case-by-case basis and says 'OK, if you're taking an employee at a set rate and we're going to have to replace that exactly the same,' it's not going from part time to full time where you've got some savings ... there's no benefit to the city in that," Rath said. "So that's not going to be as likely of an option."
"I will miss it," Stamm said. "The city is restructuring, and I wanted to pursue some new endeavors."
City Administrator Phil Rath verified Stamm made the decision to submit an agreement after the Salary and Personnel Committee "issued an opportunity for employees to suggest proposals identifying what (a severance agreement) would look like and what it would potentially look like for the city moving forward."
"Employees were asked to present what it was they were looking for as far as incentive, what was their benefit to the package, and then also, how would that benefit the city?" Rath said. "Is it somebody that's a tenured employee and you hire somebody and there might be savings from that new hire? You can restructure things and that's going to have some cost savings. Whatever it might be."
He said Stamm submitted the agreement proposal to the committee, which agreed to her terms and submitted it to the council for final approval.
The vote was unanimous among all nine aldermen Tuesday.
"Carol's been a valued employee for the city, and it'll be sad to see her leave," Rath said. "There are no disciplinary issues or anything like that."
Stamm began her tenure with the city Nov. 9, 1998, as deputy clerk, taking on the role of city clerk in 2006 and currently served in that role as well as the director of general government. The agreement specifies that Stamm will receive a lump sum of just over $31,000 on, or prior to, Jan. 18, which equates to half of her annual salary. She will receive health insurance benefits through the end of January, and the city will compensate Stamm with roughly $7,000 as a replacement for about five months of projected insurance contribution. She will also receive just under $9,000 in accumulated paid-time-off benefits.
Rath said finding a replacement will likely take about two months. In the interim, Assistant City Administrator Sam Liebert will oversee contracts with the assessor, the taxi service and other agreements with the city. An interim clerk will likely be announced during the Jan. 2 council meeting, Rath said.
He added that the city will likely delegate certain duties previously overseen by Stamm to other staff members, making the job description different than the position she will soon leave, potentially saving the city in employee costs.
"The committee looks at those on a case-by-case basis and says 'OK, if you're taking an employee at a set rate and we're going to have to replace that exactly the same,' it's not going from part time to full time where you've got some savings ... there's no benefit to the city in that," Rath said. "So that's not going to be as likely of an option."