Commission spars over CM contract

Discussion on “Rolex’ or “Timex” at April 15 meeting

 

IMLAY CITY — Following a contentious few minutes at their April 1 meeting, the Imlay City Commission has voted to take a second look at a proposed final draft of a new contract for City Manager Craig Horton. His current contract expires at the end of June.

Horton was hired as city manager in August of 2020, after spending three decades with Lapeer County government. His last position with Lapeer County prior to coming to Imlay City was chief financial officer (CFO)/interim county controller/administrator.

Horton’s city manager duties in Imlay City include serving as the city’s chief administrative officer, overseeing the organization and direction of all city departments.

His primary tasks include implementing city services, developing annual budgets, administering fiscal policy, reviewing contracts and ensuring compliance with contractual obligations, researching grant opportunities and advising the City Commission.

Mayor Barbara Yockey had appointed a three-person ad hoc committee that ended up meeting with Horton three different times before reaching what they felt was a fair deal for both sides.

However, at last week’s meeting, two commissioners – Al Ramirez and Joe DeLuca, threw caution into the wind after getting a brief chance to review the proposed agreement.

DeLuca was not pleased with the agreement and likened it to a pair of watches.

“This is a ‘Rolex’ contract. I like to be as frugal as I can, so I’m looking for more of a ‘Timex’ type of contract,” he said. “This is Imlay City. We’re not Rochester. There’s a lot that needs to be looked at and debated.”

Ramirez had raised the first objection to the proposal, making a motion to postpone the contract for further review.

Ramirez asked for a postponement of the vote to approve Horton’s contract, saying he had to leave the March 31 budget workshop early and hadn’t had ample time to review the proposed contract.

“I thought it was a very generous contract,” he said. “Not to take anything away from Craig…but, I don’t think there’s any small communities like ours that are spending what we are on our city manager.”

The motion to postpone by Ramirez failed on a 3-4 count with yes votes coming from Ramirez, DeLuca and new commission member Luke Stempien. Voting no were Mayor Yockey, Tom Blount, Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Tanis and Commissioner Stu Davis.

Blount told Ramirez, “you’re telling me you want us to have another meeting on this? We’ve already met three times. You entrusted us to come to an agreement and we did that. I don’t agree with this.’

However, after listening to concerns from at least two commissioners, Blount ended up reconsidering his feelings and suggested the commission should give Horton’s proposed contract another look before voting on it.

“I don’t want us to leave here tonight and go out those doors mad and not getting along. We need to settle this and vote on it as soon as it can be reviewed by the other commissioners who want more time,” Blount said.

He went on to add, “Craig’s resume is excellent, with his years of service in government, his knowledge, the way he works with people,” said Blount. “But I would like to leave here on a positive note. Let’s make sure we answer each other’s questions and move forward to take care of the city.”

Mayor Pro-Tem Tanis, who had made a motion to approve Horton’s new contract later withdrew his motion but let the panel know how he felt.

He felt he and his fellow ad hoc committee members had done their due diligence to negotiate the new contract offer for Horton.

“I understand where this is coming from (but) this commission okayed us to negotiate his contract out. You guys…are treating us like we didn’t do our jobs,” he said in reference to Ramirez and DeLuca’s reluctance to approve the contract.

After further debate, the commissioners voted 6-1 to postpone the vote on Horton’s proposed contract, pending further review.

Mayor Barbara Yockey cast the lone dissenting vote and was disappointed the rest of the commission had not supported the work of the ad hoc committee.

Yockey said the committee met three times, including last Friday to sit down with Horton and discuss the terms of the contract. She said Horton agreed with the contract as presented.

According to the Mayor, “the major differences between the contract as recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee (Tom Blount, Bob Tanis and myself), and the current contract are that the city manager would receive a 4% increase in pay each year; there is an increase of the PTO (paid time off) from 39 to 50 days; and his car allowance goes from $500 per month to $600. All city employees have PTO, so there isn’t a breakdown of days for sick time, personal time, and vacation. It is all combined into PTO.”

The Mayor said the city manager currently has a base salary of $106,440 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.

“He got a 4% increase for 2024-2025 fiscal year, however, the city commission had voted to increase all of the non-union employees 5% for that time period. Craig did not receive that extra 1% last year because he had a contract.”

Commissioners also had a brief opportunity to review Horton’s contract offer at a budget workshop held one night earlier.

At last week’s regular meeting, DeLuca said he wanted to see a side-by-side comparison between Horton’s prior contract and the new proposed contract, to take a look at details including paid time off (PTO), compensatory time off (comp time) and retirement contributions.

Deluca said he feels that Horton’s contract offer should be pared down in certain areas, such as PTO time and comp time.

The commission will conduct a special meeting at 6 p.m. April 15, prior to the commission’s regular meeting, to discuss Horton’s proposed contract deal. The meeting will be held at city hall and is open to the public.