Council approves 6% raise and extends city manager severance to six months

At a special city council meeting, the council approved a 6% salary increase for the city manager and amended the manager's contract to extend severance for involuntary termination without cause from three months to six months. The Chair summarized the executive-session outcome, saying, "we went from a 3 month, termination without cause to a 6 month termination without cause."

The motion on the floor combined the pay change and severance amendment. A council member who moved the motion asked that the salary increase be retroactive to Dec. 1. The severance provisions adopted provide six months of salary, paid in monthly installments, with the city's portion of health insurance continued during that period and termination of severance/insurance upon the manager's reemployment. The Chair called for individual votes; members present registered "Aye," and the Chair announced the motion had passed. The council adjourned immediately afterward.

The council discussed the adopted figures in comparison with neighboring coastal cities, with the Chair noting the adjusted manager pay would still be lower than some nearby cities and roughly in line with typical Oregon practice. The council did not record any dissenting votes in the public record captured in the transcript. The motion combined both compensation and severance amendments and was described in the meeting as intended to align the city's contract terms with peer cities.