Members of the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees unanimously rejected a proposed contract for recently selected township administrator Darwin McClary.
Township attorney Rob Young explained to the board members that he had followed their directives and prepared an employment contract for McClary consistent with the previous employment contracts for other department heads in the township including the police chief, fire chief and finance director. He said the contract he prepared and submitted to McClary for his approval was also consistent with contracts for previous township administrators.
Young said that McClary reviewed the contract and responded with an amended agreement he wanted the board members to consider. Young said he had a phone conversation with McClary and explained that some of the amendments he had requested were things the board members “had not done in the past.”
McClary, present at the April 12 meeting, said that he felt the changes to the contract were “not substantive” and were “the norm” in other administrator contracts with villages and townships. Among the changes was his request for 6-months severance pay from day one, with no minimum employment term.
McClary said he was willing to talk to Supervisor Tim Bowman and Deputy Supervisor/Trustee Tim Rush regarding the severance pay issue. He said the severance provision was predicated on the base pay in the contract and did not include benefits. “I'm willing to talk,” he said.
Trustee Matt Oddy asked if the contract presented to the board for their review was the final one under discussion and was assured by Rush that with one change, clearly marked on the documents, the board had the final agreement as amended by McClary.
While no public discussion of the changes McClary requested took place at the meeting, a source close to the situation said that McClary's salary requirement exceeded the published and budgeted amount agreed to by trustees. McClary's request for some unexpected benefits; his requests for amplified vacation and holiday days and his amendment to the daily work hours at township hall were not consistent with the job description anticipated by the board members.
Oddy made the motion to consider the contract noting that the board members would be voting “on what is before us.” The motion for approval of the contract failed by a unanimous vote.
McClary wished the board members well and thanked them for their consideration.
