With the manager’s office now vacant in Oxford Village following Joe Young’s termination and subsequent hiring by Lake Orion, council took action last week to temporarily fill the administrative void.
Following a March 28 closed session, council voted 5-0 to approve a three-month employment agreement with Clerk Susan Nassar that has her taking on many of the manager’s tasks and responsibilities until a new one is hired.
Nassar, who has served as village clerk since March 2011, had planned to be retired by now, but she decided to stick around to help Oxford during this transitional period.
“I felt a responsibility to the village and its people,” she said. “I didn’t want to leave them feeling abandoned. Progress is being made moving this village forward.”
Nassar has worked in municipal government for many years. Prior to Oxford, she was employed with the Village of Holly as well as Brandon and Groveland townships.
Effective April 1 and expiring June 30, the five-page agreement makes Nassar both the clerk and treasurer. She is required to perform a whole laundry list of “functions and duties” as outlined and defined in an eight-page exhibit attached to the agreement.
She is not the interim or acting manager. Instead, she is leading a team of existing staff who will be handling the manager’s role with additional input from the village attorney.
Although Nassar does not hold the title of manager, she is getting the salary of one.
Per the agreement, she will be paid $2,672.80 every two weeks for 80 hours, which is what Young, whose last day was March 31, was earning. His annual salary was $69,492.80.
Prior to this agreement, Nassar was being paid $1,524.81 every two weeks for 72 hours (or $39,645 annually).
In addition to her increased salary, the contract calls for Nassar to receive a $9,000 bonus, payable in three installments of $3,000 in April, May, and June.
She said the bonus is to make up for a pay cut she agreed to take two years ago.
Although there are many things Nassar is required to do per the agreement, there are four things she has “no authority” to do.
They are hiring or terminating employees and independent contractors; executing a contract or document creating a village liability/obligation for payment without prior council approval; making appointments without prior council approval; and implementing a major policy or procedure change without prior council approval.
The agreement affords Nassar some protection from anything that might have happened under Young’s watch. It states she “shall not be responsible for any prior acts of the village administration during the term of this agreement.”
Either Nassar or the village can terminate the agreement “at any time and for any reason,” provided they give written notice at least 14 days in advance.
The agreement can be extended by one-month terms after June 30 if both the village and Nassar agree to it.
Young was fired by Oxford’s council in a 3-2 vote during a special Feb. 23 meeting that lasted approximately six minutes. He had been Oxford’s manager since June 2004.
No reason for the termination was given during or after the meeting, but one doesn’t have to be stated because Young’s contract defined him as an at-will employee who served at the “sole pleasure” of council. Following his firing, Young was hired as the new village manager for Lake Orion and started work there this week.
Contract inked to keep Nassar in place while manager position vacant added by CJ Carnacchio on
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Curious situation….
From quotes in the “Leader” by Councilperson Hellmuth when this all first started, I thought we would know in greater detail why Joe Young was let go. She hinted that three members of the Council weren’t happy with his performance and even mentioned ‘closed meeting’ type stuff by those three that she apparently wasn’t involved in. How has “the rest of the story” been squelched ?!? It must be more than just the goofy horse situation, right ?!?
Must be a conspiracy, right? Most likely a competency issue. Being good at tying balloon animals doesn’t translate to managing well.
No “John”, not a conspiracy, just a lack of information and transparency to the public and a lack of follow-up on the initial article. I would characterize it as unusual, but not a conspiracy.
There was no follow-up as far as the reason why Joe Young was fired because no one on council has publicly stated, or gone on the record with, any reasons, specific or otherwise, for the termination and they are not planning to do so. They are not obligated to provide a reason for the termination because, as has been stated in previous stories, Young was an at-will employee by contract and no reason needs to be given when you terminate at-will employees. Plus, the village manager serves at the “sole pleasure” of council, which means they stay put as long as they have at least three council members who won’t vote to fire them. These days it’s not at all unusual or uncommon for no specific reason to be publicly stated when it comes to the terminations of public employees and officials. No one wants give anyone any fodder for a potential lawsuit. All questions concerning the firing were directed to village attorney Bob Davis. He stated in the original story, “You can’t have discussions about cause (for termination) and still maintain an at-will agreement.” If something new comes to light, it will be reported, but I don’t expect to see anything. As for my personal opinion as to why Young was fired, an opinion based on 18 years of covering the council, I know there have been and are council members who did not and do not feel that Young was doing a satisfactory job. I’d say there was no one thing or one incident that resulted in Young’s termination. It was a culmination of both small and big things over time, in my opinion.
Thanks for the response.
It is this quote from Councilperson Helmuth given in the original article about Mr. Young being told to “go” that initially intrigued me to this story :
“It appears to me that this council is not sharing information with all members of the council and that it’s extremely possible the Open Meetings Act was violated – although I’m not certain. I’d have to look into it. And I think we all need to remember that there are five of us who are running this village, not one, two or even three. It’s a group effort. To not inform all of council of all the information and just handpick the selected few is a violation of the public.”
I guess I should go to meetings and ask questions like this of the Council, but I suspect answers would still not be forthcoming….