Council approves city administrator contract with six‑month notice provision

The Hastings City Council on Jan. 13 approved an employment contract for City Administrator Mark Funke by an 8‑0 vote.

City staff member Jesse summarized terms for the council: the contract sets a three‑year term beginning Dec. 16, 2024, with an option for Funke to renew for an additional three years. The agreement includes a six‑month notice provision that, absent the notice, could create a six‑month severance liability for the city unless offset by a suitable‑employment clause in the contract. "Some of the terms of this contract do require a six month notice," Jesse said, noting a comparability check showing an average severance payout among peer cities of about 7.43 months.

The contract ties annual salary adjustments to the city’s current comparability study and uses the median from that study for salary benchmarking. It describes the position as full time with a 40‑hour workweek as the baseline for exempt status, allows payment of approved professional dues and memberships at mayoral approval, and requires an annual performance meeting between the mayor, council and the administrator. The council asked about how the notice and renewal mechanics would work at the end of the three‑year term; Jesse said the city could choose not to renew the agreement at term end and that termination without required notice would trigger the contract’s notice/severance provisions.

Council members also asked whether salary adjustments could be decreased under the contract; staff answered that decreases are possible under applicable law but more commonly salaries are frozen until studies prompt change. The contract passed on a roll call vote of 8‑0.

City staff said procedural options exist under Nebraska’s Open Meetings Act to hold closed‑session personnel discussions if the council chooses to evaluate performance in private.