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Morro Bay council approves severance package for Lueker

December 13, 2013

Andrea LuekerThe Morro Bay City Council approved a severance package Thursday for outgoing City Manager Andrea Lueker.

Lueker will receive a $153,322 payout and will resign from her position on Jan. 3, 2014. The agreement bars both Lueker and the city from making disparaging remarks about each other. Lueker is also barred from suing the city.

Lueker’s severance package includes nine months pay, totaling $116,000, plus $4,081 in holiday pay, $4,500 in unused sick leave and $38,698 in accrued vacation time.

The council voted 5-0 to approve Lueker’s severance package and 3-2, with council members Nancy Johnson and George Leage dissenting, to place her on administrative leave.

Lueker will be on administrative leave until her Jan. 3 resignation, and Administrative Services Director Susan Slayton will assume the role of acting city manager.

“The city has appointed Ms. Susan Slayton as acting city manager who has held this position in Ms. Lueker’s absence in the past,” Mayor Jamie Irons said in a written statement Thursday. “We are placing our confidence in Ms. Slayton while we pursue an interim city manager. This separation agreement concludes this matter, and we are now ready to move on.”

Irons called for the firing of Lueker and then city attorney Rob Schultz in September. Schultz agreed to resign last month and received a $163,235 severance package.

Neither Irons, nor members of the council ever stated a reason for cutting ties with the city’s top two executives.

The ousting of Lueker and Schultz has prompted a campaign to recall Irons. Opponents of Irons are currently gathering signatures on recall petition and need 25 percent of registered Morro Bay voters to sign it in order to trigger an election.

Lueker worked for the city of Morro Bay since 1987, rising the ranks from lifeguard to city manager. She has been city manager since 2007.

 


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Shocked, you made good points. I believe this is all caught up in ‘legal cause’ and so has nothing to do with daily life language, so this is why it is so confusing. We all want to know ‘why’, but can only guess. I’m looking forward to new City government where the employees know exactly what direction this Council majority is headed in. With more co operation from everyone we can get there. Everyday is a challenge (new challenge) and that will take energy and strength. Mayor Irons has demonstrated, already, he has what it takes to proceed forward. Yes, City Hall will be different, but I believe it will be a good different. Stay tuned.


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You obviously don’t work in the city hall…


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I guess I would like to make a last point on these terminations. If there was really any “cause” at all, this would have been the fastest severance negotiation in history.


The city hired attorney (SIMAS) would have sat in the closed room and said “look (fill in the blank), we know that you are guilty of xyz, but we do not want to embarrass you by having this go public. So lets settle this severance, and go about our separate ways in peace”.


Now if you are (fill in the blank) and you are guilty of xyz, are you not going to cave in very quickly? I would just so I could gain some credibility for future job hunts. Needless to say neither Rob or Andrea caved in quickly and appeared to really want to fight based on any cause.


That is why I firmly believe there was no cause for termination and the city council paid the full boat for severance.


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Not so fast. If they did something that could get the City in big trouble if it came out publicly, they would feel quite free to dig in their heels, knowing the Council could not reveal it to the public.


This was basically an arrogant challenge – these two clearly thought they had more power than the Council – at whose will their contracts specified that they served. So, they rounded up their pals and said, “We’ll show these people. We’ll make them back down”.


They discovered that the people they were fighting were stronger than they were, in spite of the loud noise made by their small band of supporters. Now, thank goodness, they are gone. We can fix the problems they caused and were causing, and move forward.


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I’m leaning toward philosophy …..the difference between the old and the new. But, that all would be hard to put your finger on unless you had sat through all the meetings (closed sessions and open), and perhaps between other groups that we didn’t hear or see. Just a thought.


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If the City council were aware of a situation that could give the city “big trouble”, and they chose to get rid of it by getting rid of these two employees, then we have bigger fools running the city than many thought.


I actually give the 3 council members more credit than you do. They would not sit on something that serious and be blackmailed by 2 employees.Especially since at least 2 of them would have “clean hands”.


I am sorry but most of the Irons supporters are grasping at straws to find a reason or at least insinuate a reason e.g. “compromising position”, “hanky panky”.


Lets let it go that they did not want to bother trying to manage these people, as any other professional executives would need to do. That as opposed to just firing them and trying to get someone new who will be a “yes” person.


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Most of us can’t even imagine what it would be like to know you had 100 g’s waiting for you if you lost your job. i would think it would be very easy to be “classy”. try being classy when you’re making $9 an hour and lose your job right before your $700 rent is due (if you are lucky enough to find a place at all).


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Go to school for 7 years, pass the bar, and then build a reputation for thirty years.

Then come back and complain.


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i Understand what you’re saying, but with the way things are right now, I would be more worried about the working class losing complete confidence in this competitive system we all love so dearly. If that happens, then we have real problems. Things are way, way out of balance – that is my point.


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Unfortunately, college and law school cost more than most people can afford. As for the reputation, the quality of the one under discussion depends on whom you are talking to.


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Yes, and there are also a lot of people with degrees living in SUBARU WAGONS! – well maybe not subaru wagons, but vehicles or working at Taco Bell.


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If you make under $40,000 you’re entire college will be paid for, free on the tax payers dime. Pretty crazy huh. Even if you don’t qualify for federal assistance anyone can get student loans and go to college. So it really isn’t unattainable by any means.


Why don’t you ask Los Gatos and the 90 other attorneys who lost out on the job below him about his qualifications.


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exactly


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mbhomeless…..you need to get a hold of our fine mayor. He just bought a bunch of rentals uptown. He is really into helping the less fortunate. Am sure he would love to rent you a place at a very affordable price.


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Or just be a lifeguard in the right place at the right time.


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This is not the time of year to hate the homeless, nor pity them, it’s just a time to be glad we live in such a beautiful area. Did you see the Lighted boat Parde last night? I didnt – i was working but I’m sure it was beautiful. Have you ever thought of maybe ringing a salvation army bell infront of a grocery store for a few hours? Volunteering your time to get you in the spirit?


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yes become a lifeguard and+++++

make lots of $$$$$$$ and ;))))))))


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I had no beef with Andrea or Rob, but I have a real problem with the people who came to our Council meetings and were mean, nasty and awful to our Council majority who believed it was necessary to change the manager/atty and were willing to go through with it! Did the people speaking and writing letters think they could intimidate the council/mayor into changing their votes? I guess that was the intent. You all just made yourselves look awful and nothing changed. I am disappointed that Andrea was moved by the support of these people who were so ugly. That is sad to me.


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Exactly. those two still may not have had any chance of keeping their jobs, but those nuts didnt do them any favors with their rabies-induced diatribes. They reminded me of the people you see in those Salem witch-hunt movies.


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if someone wants to fire you, or in this case force your resignation, they are never going to give the real reason anyway. The last job i got fired from they said it was because I was insubordinate but really it was becaus of offensive hygiene. They never give the REAL reason, they give the BEST reason in case of liability.


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Fortunately our city continues to function with this change over. Susan Slaton is a treasure and will fill in well for the time being. Our public works director Mr. Livick carries on with the important work of the WWTP planning/consultant, Our Police and Fire are in capable hands, harbor dept goes on with the business it needs to do. We are pleased that our city is in such good hands.


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And who was important in appointing all those good employees you speak of?


Oh yeah… Leuker.


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well why did we have any other employees at all, Leuker could have done it all herself. MB Wonder Woman. 5 departments…no problem. LOL


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No, Morro Bay does not need her because Wonder(ing) Man will manage everything, even though he has no experience in running a city!


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I completely agree, fishing. I have always had the highest regard for Ms. Slayton and am sure she will do a great job. While I am not quite so sure about the Harbor, given recent reports of safety issues, the rest of the City is clearly in very capable hands and will run very well.


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Slayton/Livick r2_Brilliant City Employees


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Yes, without Schultz and Lueker controlling him, Mr. Livick should be able to do a far better job. I have high hopes for him.


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I learn a lot from your insights, mbactivist1 … i am still trying to find out what happened with Mr. Solu & the Planning commission, i don’t get to see the meetings on TV unless I get a room at a motel for a couple of days and our crappy excuse for a local paper doesnt cover AG & Grover better than it does Morro.


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scratch “doesn’t cover …” and replace with: “covers …”


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Or you could just go to the meetings…


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Wonder what it is like when you are the mayor and have a city full of employees that have ZERO respect for you?…Suppose he will fire everyone? .


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I think it is clear that almost everyone believes there has to have been a cause for these terminations, but almost everyone also understands that to minimize risk to the City, it was prudent and correct to allow employees to “resign” and to refrain from stating any cause no matter how much cause there might have been. This helps prevent very expensive lawsuits.


In the private sector corporations I worked for, it was always considered safest and best for the company that an employee quit, rather than being fired. The primary strategy there was to “lean on” an unsatisfactory employee, making that person sufficiently uncomfortable that (s)he would quit. This direction came from the legal departments, by the way.


Fortunately, in this case, it was not necessary to lean on anyone, as city managers and city attorneys can be terminated at will.


No one should expect to ever be told by the Council what these two did to warrant being asked to leave. That would put the City at great risk of lawsuits.


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I can tell you what the “cause” was – this mayor and these 2 other people were elected to do something the voters are asking them to do and they probably realized right away that they were never going to get it done with a city attorny and city manger that were still working for the guy in the Hawaiian shirts and with the Sadam Hussein hairdo.


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Well said, mbhomeless! It was so very clear that Schultz and Lueker worked for the former Council majority, not the current one. They were there to do the work of the ousted special interest minority, and when they went, so did that minority’s last means of controlling City government. That is why that group raised and continues to raise such a fuss over the terminations.


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Thanks, and furthermore I would like to add that I think they (the city atty & manager) must have taken one look at Irons and thought “does this geeky newcomer with his glasses and pea-green suit and 10-speed really think he’s going to tell us what to do? he’s not even one of us!” They probably looked at his election as a fluke they just needed to endure until the city came to its senses and put Don Ho or one of his buddies back in power. I think that loud, mean lady, (Katy Wells I think her name is), without knowing it, best summed it up when she yells at the meeting: “Who are you people?” If I was Irons i would have stood up and said, “Well, I am J. Irons, the elected mayor of Morro Bay that trounced everyone so badly in the last election that we didnt even need to have an election, and to my right, at the end is Noah Smukler who also regularly trounces his opponents in city elections, and at the endd to my left is C. Johnson who also was elected quite convincingly without even having any experience in local politics – nice meeting you, now sit down, your 3 minutes is up.”


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“Probably looked at his election as a fluke they just needed to endure until the city came to its senses.”


It sure seems that they were right.


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K. Welles reminds me of those who call this ‘moron’ Bay


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Once again, mbhomeless, well said!


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I really hate to throw some cold water on your mutual admiration society with mbactivist1 and fishing village, but, as usual, you seem to always conveniently overlook these two facts: 1) Rob and Andrea’s jobs were to follow the direction of the City Council, which they did, no matter WHO was in charge. Your opinions that they did not follow the current City Council’s direction are wrong and not justified. 2) They were dismissed “without cause”, meaning that there was no real reason to dismiss them. Irons has never stated to either of them his reasoning for this action, and probably never will. He’d have a hard time explaining why he’s spent all this time and money on his little vendetta, and will look pretty stupid when the city starts having budget problems due to his actions.


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Again, it sounds like you just can’t decide whether this guy is borderline-retarded or an evil genius, which to me, means there were probably very good reasons for the actions, and that the decision not to disclose the causes were for legal reasons, to save the city money. Sometimes you have to spend money to save money.


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thanks mbhomeless….you had the “GEEK” part right!


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The problem is they didn’t do anything wrong, they just took the high road and decided to leave without creating anymore of a circus then Mr. Irons already had.


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The method of “leaning on” people in the private sector is to frequently review their performance. If they are truly not worth keeping, they will not improve so you will then have grounds to dismiss them or they will leave first having seen “the writing on the wall”.


In this case the actions appear arbitrary at best. It is the weakest form of management that takes the avenue of dismissing people to avoid the trouble of “managing” them.


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I think that as time goes by and we learn more, it will become clear that the terminations were far from arbitrary, and that there were some real and serious problems with these two.


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From my relationship with those in city hall I can tell you that these terminations were 100% arbitrary. I know you don’t want to hear it. And you don’t have to believe me. But it is true. Irons had 0 cause for firing the pair and did so because his personality did not get along well with his two top executives.


Thats the truth take it or leave it.


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mbactivist1

No one should expect to ever be told by the Council what


these two did


to warrant being asked to leave…


hanky-panky would be a good reason…? Just saying…


Happens all the time…


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i think it’s the one thing we can rule out. i mean, come on.


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Every other manager and attorney that’s been fired was done in private and with dignity.


This mayor does not do either.


All he had to do was call a closed session for an evaluation of both and then the three majority members simply had to say, we are unhappy with your performance, we’d like your resignations and both would have gladly done so.


That’s how professional people do these types of unpleasant things. They do them in private and spare everyone a huge drama and controversy. They’re here one day and gone the next.


Pay them what you owe them and move on. That’s how it’s always been done in the past and is the best way to handle these kinds of situations.


Instead Irons has to call special closed session meetting after meeting, putting them on the hot seat and stirring up controversy. He coiuldn’t simply let them go, he wanted to crush them.


And in doing so he has created a hostile work environment at City Hall. Neither Irons, Smukler or Christine Johnson are welcome at City Hall. Smukler and Johnson have not stepped foot in the building for months. Hellova way to run a city.


And Irons went about it in an entirely illegal way, placed the city (and the taxpayers) in a precarious legal situation and then had to hire an outside attorney to show him how to do it correctly and to cover his ass. That’s why the severance agreements both have clauses that neither can sue the city for wrong doing or illegal actions in the handling of their firing.


We paid SImas to come up with a settlement agreement, when these were at-will employees? That shows how stupid this mayor really is.


And then he violates the miuni code by hiring his own attorney? Totally illegal but since he has the other two puppets in his pocket, he thinks he can do anythig he wants.


Funny, how when it came to hiring a temporary replacement for Schultz, he had Susan Slayton do it and they had someone on board the very next day. No special meetings or public spectacles needed when someone who knows what they are doing does the job.


Lueker and Schutz both had long careers with the city and both made a lot of money. They understood that they were at-will employees and each would have left quietly with pleasure.


Neither one ever asked anyone to do anything for them. You clearly know nothing about either of these people and simply sit at your keyboard and make up all kinds of ludircous and absurd conspiracy theories.


The outpouring of support was spontaneous and the anger and vitriol that’s come up has been because of frustration at not being given an explanation.


So what did all this publc spectacle achieve?


Schultz and Lueker got exactly what was coming to them, not one penny less. Irons is facing a recall drive, we spent a lot of money on an outside attorney and interim attorney and our town is more divided than it has been since the 1980s.


And Irons, Smukler and Johnson haven’t even begun with the “change” they say they were elected to bring to the Morro Bay.


Irons keeps saying he is doing what’s best for Morro Bay? Really? He must mean HIS vision of Morro Bay something I would very much like to hear his define.


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For those of you who believe Rob and Andrea made out like “bandits”, please get in touch with reality. Because they can be let go for no reason at all, it is typical for these level of employees to receive a severance package. If I am not mistaken, California law allowser 18 month severance as the upper limit for public officials.


I am all in favor of changing all these rules, only if we require whimsical politicians to have a valid reason for firing competent professionals. “The did not agree with me” is not reason enough.


Please read this excerpt below;


“City managers typically serve at the will of the city council, which means they constantly walk the high wire to stay on the right side of a majority vote. Jobs are few and openings are rare, so city management candidates try to protect themselves with severance provisions that guarantee up to 18 months base salary – the state limit — if terminated without cause. The term “without cause” typically means without committing a crime or disobeying the city council.


Municipal management experts say the high severance is meant to dissuade city councils from firing their top administrators on a whim.


“There are not too many people who can be cut off from employment because their council doesn’t like the color of their tie,” said Newport Beach attorney Craig Scott, who negotiates for city managers….. posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative Oct 2012 OC Register


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Perfect…this sums up EXACTLY why people like Irons should not be allowed to serve in a public office, the siren song of absolute power is too great.


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Redsoxman:


Former Mayor Janice Peters dismissed the whole Planning Commission,

and also the city manager with NO CAUSE and a similar severance package for the former city manager on 1 hours notice and replaced him with her sidekick Andrea Leuker, could this be considered insider trading, or the pot calling the kettle black? As in do as

I say and not as I do$$$$


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We only seem to remember the most recent Machiavellian moves in this town, not the older ones – and yes, I do consider what Irons & this council has done as a calculated, Machiavellian move, and see nothing wrong with it. It was justified and necessary and done with the voters in mind, not for self-interest.


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Hate to bore you with a fact, but her “sidekick” was not even in the initial running to be hired as city manager. There were 5 other people who were initially selected to be interviewed. In fact, in this initial process, Andrea’s submission for consideration was rejected by a 3-2 vote, with Janice being one of the three. Only after the 1st five washed out was Andrea then considered for the position. Again, an Irons supporter twisting reality for their own purposes.


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What I am still curious about is that the mayor at a council meeting stated that the contract attorney that the mayor handpicked would get to the “why” of the firing of these two employees. It would sure be nice for the residents if the council majority could just come clean and say “hey, we just didn’t like these two”, or “we decided to go another direction” rather than spend 3 months tearing their lives as well as the community apart by their witch hunt for “cause” that yielded nothing.


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That would be what an ethical person would do.


Instead an attorney was hired on the taxpayers dime to try and search for anything that could be used as a, “why,” for firing them. And when he could not they got full severance.


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How many times do people neeed to be told, IT IS THE LAW, the Council followed the law period! Whatever Andrea and Rob shared was between them and the people they talked to. No one else had or has a clue. We just guess, it wasn’t beneficial to our City and moving towards a better place in which to live. Following the LAWS of the California Coastal Commission regarding the WWTP, and whatever comes along requires a following of the new Council majority. It would have gone quicker and smoother without the antics of those opposed to the changes being made. Blame their politics on delay!


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Well if there was actually a serious problem that worried the council do you think they wouldn’t have had consistent 3-2 split council votes against firing the employees?


Don’t you think its also interesting that the divide was split between those who campaigned with Irons and those who had been previously sitting on council?


Don’t you think its interesting that after 17 years of above satisfactory reviews by Mr. Schultz and 27 years of employment in the city for Leuker, that someone who had never been even on city council led the firing?


The delay was caused because Irons did something that was clearly against what the public thought was in the best interest of the city. As evidenced by all those people that continued to speak against him at the city council meetings.


Combine that with making the decision hastily without putting in place a plan for there dismissal, and lying to the public that there was cause in the firing. And we had quite the circus act indeed.


However, Irons pompous style led to him being unwilling to step back and really review what he was doing. Does anyone really want a mayor in office who will not listen to the wills of the people of Morro Bay? I sure don’t.


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Bottom line, and these are the facts: Rob and Andrea were never given a reason for their dismissal, what part of “without cause” do you people have a problem with? The reason Irons got rid of them, plain and simple, is that he didn’t like them. Had he been a real man and a leader, he would have admitted this, but then he’d be asked to explain why he was spending all this time and money to get rid of people that he just didn’t like. He obviously never learned anything in kindergarten about how to get along with others…..


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He must be an only child.


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I’m sure all the only children of the world (including Condoleeza Rice, Gerald Ford, John the Baptist, Laura Bush, Nancy Reagan, and Rudy Giuliani) will be glad to hear what miserable failures they were at getting along with others.


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And how many times do YOU need to be reminded that neither Rob nor Andrea were given any reason for their dismissal? “Without Cause” = “Without Reason”. Are you trying to tell us that it was against the law for Irons to not even tell them his reasons for getting rid of them? No, we don’t have a clue why Irons did this, it’s locked inside his pompous head. He can’t justify it, so he says nothing to anyone in hopes that his little power-hungry episode will be forgotten.


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