Low-Lights of the BWD General Manager’s Proposed Employment Contract in Plain English

Section  1.D.              The initial contract is for six (6) years and automatically renews for successive three (3) year terms forever unless the Board of Directors decides not to renew it in which case the General Manager (GM) shall be entitled to all of the lavish termination benefits listed in Section 4.E. of the contract (see below).

Section 2.A.               The GM is an exempt employee and therefore not legally entitled to overtime pay.  (But he is entitled to “reasonable” compensatory (“discretionary”) time off by Section 5.A. below).

Section 3.A.               The GM’s initial annual base salary will be $185,000/yr. 

Section 3.B.               The GM’s base salary can never be reduced, but will automatically increase each year based in the increase in the CPI.  (There is no exception even for financial exigency.)

Section  4.B.              If the board decides in closed session to fire the GM, he can resign and will still be entitled to all of the lavish termination benefits listed in Section 4.E., and the Water District cannot tell anyone he was, in fact, fired.

Section 4.E.               Even if the Board of Directors fires the GM for just cause, he is entitled to a lump-sum severance payment equal to fifteen (15) months of his salary at the time (now nearly a quarter-million dollars) and continuation of his health insurance and all other benefits for eighteen (18) months from date of termination at the District’s expense.

Section 5.A.               The GM can take compensatory (“discretionary”) time off “as reasonable,” and be “allowed to work up to two (2) days a week from his residence in Tucson, Arizona…” (emphasis added).

Section 6.A.               BWD is required to provide a vehicle for the GM’s business use and pay all costs associated with it, including “regular replacement.”

Section 7.A.               BWD is required to pay the total cost of health, vision, dental, major medical, and disability insurance for the GM and his dependents irrespective of any changes BWD may make or be forced by financial circumstances to make to such benefits for other BWD employees.

Section 8.A.               BWD is required to guarantee a retirement benefit for the GM that will continue to grow at the rate of return at the time the contract is signed or greater irrespective of BWD’s financial situation or the state of the general economy.

Section 9.A.               BWD is required to pay for all of the GM’s memberships in professional associations and for all subscriptions to professional journals that the GM decides to join or subscribe to.

Section 11.A.             BWD is required to pay all “non-personal and generally job-affiliated” expenses incurred by the GM, including those charged to the BWD credit card issued to him, upon demand of the GM.  There is no provision for review or audit of such expenses specified in this section.

Section 10.A.             The GM will be granted sick and vacation leave based on his “total years of public employment” wherever it occurred.  (He claims sixteen (16) years.)

Section 13.A.             The GM’s contract cannot be amended, modified, or varied in any way whatsoever unless he gives his prior, written consent.

Analysis of the above terms and conditions reveals that the entire agreement is written to advantage the employee and severely restricts or eliminates the authority and rights of the employer.  Normally, the employer sets the terms of the contract, including provisions that ensure the employer’s right to manage, oversee and direct the employee.  Here the employee has drafted the contract in such a manner that he now controls the terms, conditions, management and direction of his employment.  In effect, he cannot be considered an employee within the usual understanding of the term.

11/21/2009

Let the BWD board members and General Manager know what you think!