The City Council hired Mr. Schwartz a little over a year ago and now have fired him. What does that say about their judgment and their ability to responsibly represent the citizens of Sebastopol? After Mr. Schwartz did what was necessary to try to put the City on a sound financial footing, he gets fired. The City is broke, yet makes a decision which will possibly cost us $183,000.00 in severance, plus the likely costs of hiring an outside search firm to find and pre-screen new candidates. Then to top it off, paying not one, not two but three lawyers to attend the close-door Council session? I would think that one qualified employment lawyer would have been sufficient. How much did that cost us? But yeah, you want my family to vote for more tax increases to fund the City while the Council runs it into the ground. And what qualified person in their right mind would now apply for the job of City Manager or any other department head position after seeing what has happened to Mr. Schwartz?
This seems rather shocking. Clearly much more to this story. Do you get the sense this was driven by the mayor in a power struggle? Have you reached out to Mr. Schwartz? Curious if he’s under NDA as part of his severance or if he can share his side of the story.
Update the city manager story: severance and search costs
On Thursday, we updated our story about the decision by the city and former Sebastopol City Manager Don Schwartz to part ways. We added new information about his severance, the cost of recruiting a new city manager, and how the city council phrase the decision that led to their vote.
According to a council meeting recap email from Councilmember Sandra Maurer, “The vote was 3-2 with Mayor Zollman, Vice Mayor McLewis and Phill Carter in favor, and Neysa Hinton and myself opposed.”
Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley said this was “a formal vote to release the city manager from his position for no cause and to approve a general release agreement.”
Looking at Schwartz’s employment contract with the city, it seems likely that he will receive a substantial severance package. His yearly salary is $245,000, and he was in the second year of a three-year contract. Since he and the city terminated his contract within 18 months of his hiring, his employee contract indicates that his severance would be around $183,000 (which is nine months of his base salary).
Recruiting a new city manager can cost between $23,000 and $32,000.
So all and all, this was a pretty expensive decision.
The City Council hired Mr. Schwartz a little over a year ago and now have fired him. What does that say about their judgment and their ability to responsibly represent the citizens of Sebastopol? After Mr. Schwartz did what was necessary to try to put the City on a sound financial footing, he gets fired. The City is broke, yet makes a decision which will possibly cost us $183,000.00 in severance, plus the likely costs of hiring an outside search firm to find and pre-screen new candidates. Then to top it off, paying not one, not two but three lawyers to attend the close-door Council session? I would think that one qualified employment lawyer would have been sufficient. How much did that cost us? But yeah, you want my family to vote for more tax increases to fund the City while the Council runs it into the ground. And what qualified person in their right mind would now apply for the job of City Manager or any other department head position after seeing what has happened to Mr. Schwartz?
This seems rather shocking. Clearly much more to this story. Do you get the sense this was driven by the mayor in a power struggle? Have you reached out to Mr. Schwartz? Curious if he’s under NDA as part of his severance or if he can share his side of the story.
I am continuing to investigate, but thus far no one is talking.
Thanks for keeping us in the governmental loop!
What a mess!
Just a question, Laura. What “new” information is in this updated post?
Update the city manager story: severance and search costs
On Thursday, we updated our story about the decision by the city and former Sebastopol City Manager Don Schwartz to part ways. We added new information about his severance, the cost of recruiting a new city manager, and how the city council phrase the decision that led to their vote.
According to a council meeting recap email from Councilmember Sandra Maurer, “The vote was 3-2 with Mayor Zollman, Vice Mayor McLewis and Phill Carter in favor, and Neysa Hinton and myself opposed.”
Assistant City Manager Mary Gourley said this was “a formal vote to release the city manager from his position for no cause and to approve a general release agreement.”
Looking at Schwartz’s employment contract with the city, it seems likely that he will receive a substantial severance package. His yearly salary is $245,000, and he was in the second year of a three-year contract. Since he and the city terminated his contract within 18 months of his hiring, his employee contract indicates that his severance would be around $183,000 (which is nine months of his base salary).
Recruiting a new city manager can cost between $23,000 and $32,000.
So all and all, this was a pretty expensive decision.
Thank you. I must have read the updated story to begin with. This app makes it difficult to tell. Appreciate your clarification.