Lake City council gets outside legal opinion saying ex‑manager payments were 'ultra vires'; council orders follow‑up review

The Lake City City Council on Feb. 18 heard an outside legal opinion concluding that post‑employment payments made to former city manager Paul Bridal were paid without the approvals the city code requires and that portions of the payouts exceeded caps set in the city's personnel manual.

The opinion, delivered in person by Michael Cavendish of Cavendish Partners, said the signed separation agreement and the three lump‑sum payments—16 weeks of salary; a cashout of accrued vacation; and a cashout of accrued sick leave—were processed and paid “without either of those actions being brought before the city council,” and therefore were “ultra vires,” a Latin legal term Cavendish defined in the meeting as “without authority.”

Cavendish told the council the 16‑week salary payment (based on a $150,000 annual salary) amounted to about $46,000 before deductions; that sick‑leave cashout exceeded the city manual's payout cap by roughly $91,000; and that the vacation payout exceeded the manual's limit by about $5,700. He summarized the overpayments as “between $96,000 and $97,000” in total…