Final Stages of Rye City’s $31 Million 2009 Budget

Employment Agreement between Paul Shew and City of Rye.

THIS AGREEMENT made and entered into this day of

_____ 2003, by and between the City of Rye, State of New York, a municipal corporation hereinafter called “Employer” as party of the first part, and O. Paul Shew, as party of the second part, both of whom understand as follows:

WITNESSETH:

WHEREAS, Employer desires to employ the services of said o. Paul Shew as City Manager of the City of Rye; and

WHEREAS, it is the desire of the governing board, hereinafter called “Council” to provide certain benefits, to establish certain conditions of employment, and to set working conditions of said

Employee; and

WHEREAS, Employee desires to accept employment as City Manager of said City of Rye; and

WHEREAS, The parties acknowledge that Employee is a member of the International City/County Management Association (leMA) and that Employee is subject to the leMA Code of Ethics;

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, the parties agree as follows:

Section 1: Duties

Emplnyer herehy agree! to employ said O. Paul Shew as City Manager of !aid Employer to pe.rform the functions and duties specified in the Rye City Charter and further enumerated in the City Code and to perform other legally permissible and proper duties and functions as the Council shall from

time to time assign.

Section 2: Term

The tenn of this agreement shall commence on August 25, 2003.

A. Employee agrees to remain in the exclusive employ of Employer, and neither to accept other employment nor to become employed by any other employer.

B. Nothing in this agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the Council to terminate the services of Employee at any time, subject only to the provisions set forth in Section 3, paragraphs A and B, of this agreement.

C. Nothing in this agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the Employee to resign at any time from his position with Employer, subject only to the provision set forth in Section 3, paragraph B of this agreement.

Section 3: Termination and Severance Pay

A. In the event Employee is terminated for any reason, other than conviction of a crime, Employer agrees to pay Employee six months compensation as severance pay. For the purposes of this section, compensation shall include amounts set forth in this agreement, or amendments thereto.

R In the event Employee voluntarily resigns his position with Employer during the period of bis employment, then Employee shall give Employer three months notice in advance, unless the parties otherwise agree in writing.

Section 4: Salary

Employee agrees to pay Employee for his services rendered pursuant hereto in annual base salary of $140,000 payable in installments at the same time as other management employees of the Employer are paid.

In addition, Employer agrees to increase said base salary and/or benefits of Employee in such amounts and to such extent as the Council may determine that it is desirable to do so on the basis of an annual salary review of said Employee made at the same time as similar consideration is given other employees generally.

Section 5: Performance Evaluation

The Mayor and Council will meet annually with the Employee to identify specific performance goals for the following year. The Mayor and Council shall review and evaluate the perfomlance of the Employee at least once per year based upon the goals established by the Mayor and Council and other specific criteria developed jointly by Employer and Employee. Said criteria may be added to or deleted as the Mayor and Council may from time to time determine, in consultation with the Employee. During the first year of employment the review, evaluation and discussion shall OCcur at least once every six months.

Section 6: Hours of Work

Both Employer and Employee recognize that the duties of City Manager require a great deal of time outside of normal office hours. It is also recognized by the parties that Employee is required to devote the amount of time and energy necessary to carry out those duties with the highest amount of professionalism possible. That being the case, the parties recognize that Employee may choose to take personal time off during business hours when it is appropriate and when his duties allow. Although this personal time off is not considered vacation, neither is it to be considered as compensatory time for time spent by Employee in carrying out his duties outside of nomlal office hours, as the parties agree that Employee must devote the amount of time necessary to fulfill those duties.

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Section 7: Automobile

Employee’s duties require that he shall have the exclusive and unrestricted use at all times during :his employment with Employer of an automobile provided to him by the Employer. Employer shall be responsible for paying for liability, property damage, and comprehensive insurance, and for the purchase, operation, maintenance, repair, and regular replacement of said automobile.

Section 8: Retirement

Employee shall participate in the New York Public Employees Retirement System, subject to the rules and regulations of the Plan.

In addition, Employer agrees to execute all necessary agreements provided by lCMA Retirement Corporation (IeMA-RC) for Employer’s participation in said ICMA-RC retirement plan and, in addition to the base salary paid by the Employer to the Employee, Employer agrees to annually pay $11,400 into the ICMA-RC on Employee’s behalf, in equal proportionate amounts each pay period, and to transfer ownership to succeeding employers upon Employee’s resignation or termination. The parties shall fully disclose to each other the financial impact of any amendment to the terms of Employee’s retirement benefit.

Section 10: Dues, Subscriptions and Professional Development

A. Employer agrees to budget for and to pay for professional dues and subscriptions of Employee necessary for his continuation and full participation in national, regional, state, and local associations and organizations necessary and desirable for his continued professional participation, growth, and advancement, and for the good of the Employer.

B. Employer hereby agrees to budget for and to pay for travel and subsistence expenses of Employee for professional and official travel, meetings and occasions, adequate to continue the professional development of Employee and to adequately pursue necessary official functions for Employer, including but not limited to the ICMA Annual Conference, the state league of municipalities, and such other national, regional, state, and local governmental groups and committees thereof which Employee serves as a member.

C. Employer also agrees to budget for and to pay for travel and subsistence expenses of Employee for short courses, institutes, and seminars that are necessary for hislher professional development and for the good of the Employer.

Section 10: Indemnification

In addition to that required under state and local law, Employer shall defend, save harmless, and indemnify Employee against any tort, professional liability claim or demand or other legal action, whether groundless or otherwise, except for acts of gross negligence or intentional tort arising out of an alleged act or omission occurring in the performance of Employee’s duties as city manager. Employer will compromise and settle any such claim or suit and pay the amount of any settlement of judgment rendered thereon.

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Section 11: Bonding

Employer shall bear the full cost of any fidelity or other bonds required of the Employee under any law or ordinance.

Section 12: Other Terms and eonditions of Employment

A. The Council, in consultation with the manager, shall fix any such other tenns and conditions of employment, as it may detennine from time to time, relating to the perfonnance of Employee, provided such terms and conditions are not inconsistent with or in conflict with the provisions of this agreement, the City of Rye charger or any other law.

B. All provision of the City of Rye charter and code, and regulations and rules of the Employer relating to vacation and sick leave, retirement and pension system contributions, holidays, and other benefits and working conditions as they now exist or hereafter may be amended, also shall apply to Employee as they would to other administrative pay group employees of Employer, in addition to said benefits enumerated, specifically for the benefit of Employee except as herein provided.

C. Employee shall be entitled to receive the same vacation and sick leave benefits as are accorded department heads with 20 years of service, including provisions governing accrual and payment therefor on termination of employment. In addition, Employee will be credited with 86 days of accrued sick leave as of the effective date of this contract.

Section 13: No Reduction of Benefits

Employer shall not at any time during the term of this agreement reduce the salary, compensation or other financial benefits of Employee, except to the degree of such a reduction across-the-board for all employees of the Employer. If at any time during the term of this agreement Employer violates this principle, the Employee may, at his option, be deemed to be “terminated” at the date of such reduction for the purposes of severance pay provisions.

Section 14: General Provisions

A. The text herein shall constitute the entire agreement between the parties.

B. This agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the heirs at law and executors of Employee.

C. This agreement shall become effective commencing August 25, 2003.

D. If any provision, or any portion thereof, contained in this agreement is held unconstitutional, invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this agreement, or portion thereof, shall be deemed severable, shall not be affected, and shall remain in full force and effect.

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JUN-25-2003 11 : S8 CITY OF RYE NY

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IN ‘VlTNESS WHEREOF the Cil}’ of Rye has cDused this agreement (0 be signed and executed in it! behalf by irs Mayor, and duly attested by its city clerk .. and the Employee has sign~d and execu t ed this agreemenr. both indupUc2te the d!1Y and yc:lf first above writ!~n .

. ~ttr’.

Steven Otis, J4ayor

O. Paul· Shew

ATTEST

.’

City Clerk (Seal)

APPROVED AS TO FO’R..”1:

Corporation Counsel

The focus on City of Rye spending ignores the 800 pound gorilla in the room …. the run away spending at the schools which is primarily a function of absurd salries for teachers . Look at this for facts on how overpaid NY teachers are vs those in other states . http://www.myshortpencil.com/newyorkteachersalaries.htm#County%20and%20Regional%20Summaries

Mayor Otis and the Rye City Council are talking about how bad the economy is for the City of Rye and they have to make cuts in the budget. At least in the places they want to cut, not across the board cuts. They all congratulated themselves on what a great job they did on the last budget.

Otis, Shew and the Rye City Council have created an illusion.

How bad could it be????? It can’t be too bad.

This is what Rye taxpayers paid Plunkett and the law firms he is a partner in or was a partner in legal fees from 2006-2008:

2006: $301,330

2007: $208,551

2008: $216,127.

That apparently wasn’t enough. so they also paid him a salary which is presumably pensionable in NYS. You know if Plunkett is in the retirement system, Rye taxpayers are footing these payments to the retirement system:

2006: $65,000 salary.

2007: $65,000 salary.

2008: $65,000 Salary.

Apparently not being happy with “Only” giving Plunkett all these legal fees, a salary and apparently a retirement plan, Otis and the Rye City Council also use taxpayer money to pay for Plunkett’s Health Insurance. That’s right. Plunkett has his health insurance paid for by Rye taxpayers.

How bad can the economy be hurting Rye Mayor Otis and the Rye City Council???????????????

Anyone want to guess if Plunkett will get a pension and lifetime health insurance just Like Morison did after only 7 years of service.

Wry Record –

Can you tell us all how much of the money paid to Simpson Thatcher was to cover scores of frivoulous lawsuits brought by a former employee?

Hey Scooter:

The firm Plunkett was a partner at until last year was Thacher Proffitt and Wood.

He is now a partner at DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr.

If you want to find out about frivolous lawsuits you can call City Hall. First ask for Plunkett. Even though he is the Corporation Counsel for Rye, he doesn’t keep an office there so he probably won’t answer.

You can then ask to speak to the City Manager. Thanks to Otis, Shew doesn’t have to come to City Hall either so he probably won’t answer.

You can then ask to speak to former City Manager Frank Culross. He is probably there because he is being paid $15,000 to find a new Comptroller. Shew must have been too busy.

Hey Wry…are you gonna answer the question from Scooter or not???

OMG!:

I guess Plunkett and Shew weren’t around to answer Scooter’s questions. I am not shocked.

If you are going to do Scooter’s bidding, perhaps you can provide some clarification.

Was Scooter referring to the former Police Lieutenant who was accused of allegedly raping a Police Department intern and sexually abusing a Rye bar patron or was Scooter referring to the former Police Commissioner who at first covered it up and then did not do a proper investigation?

Was Scooter referring to a former Police Commissioner who, along with a Lieutenant who is still at the Rye PD, fabricated allegations against a member of the Rye PD and lied about it under oath? Guess what? There was an allegation made. It was for sexual abuse and it was made against the very same Lieutenant who, along with the former Commissioner, fabricated it against a completely innocent member of the department.

Was Scooter referring to another former Police Commissioner who, along with another Lieutenant who still works at the Rye PD, tried bribing a union official? This former Commissioner also gave out Police Identifications to his non police personnel friends, he lied numerous times and got caught while testifying in the biggest child sexual abuse case in Rye history and had two guns with very illegal silencers.

Was Scooter referring to a former Rye City Councilman who tried to pay off a Police Officer for letting him go on a ticket?

I was referring to a single former city employee who made a habit of bringing scores of lawsuits against the city for frivolous reasons. Rape and bribery are not, in anyone’s book, frivolous activities. But it would be frivolous to say your civil rights were violated if your boss criticized you for showing up late to work one day, for example.
Wry Record, what evidence do you have about these allegations against Commissioners and Lieutenants? Were you involved in some way? And what is a “Police Identification”? Is that some means of identification (like a small police badge) that family and friends of working cops use to wiggle out of speeding tickets or more serious transgressions, like drunken driving or leaving the scene of an accident? Please, do tell!

Scooter…don’t hold your breath. Wry just posts these innuendos to get a rise out of people. You gotta see all the krap he posts on lohud.com. And to think this guy is OTJ…it really amazes me.

It’s a pity when someone acts the way he does.

Wry, if you are going to make accusations, why not come forward with “proof” instead of sounding like a “Page Six” article from the NY Post (“What recently divorced actor had his manager ask the Flight Attendant to meet him for dinner???”)

Sheesh…

Scooter and OMG:

I see the City Council meeting has ended.

I would really like to know who claimed civil rights violations because their boss criticized them for coming to work late.

Perhaps if one of you, one of your daughters or one of your spouses were to be allegedly raped or sexually abused by a member of the very police department who then do not do a proper investigation of the allegations, you would look at things a little more objectionably, maturely and less frivolously. It’s probably pretty safe to say that the alleged victims and the families of these alleged victims do.

Here is a little taste of evidence Scooter and OMG. Since you already think a Police Identifications is the same as a small police badge, you probably won’t be able to comprehend it.

A Police Identification card is an official I.D. issued by the Rye Police Department. It has a photo of the Police Officer, Sergeant or Lieutenant and lists their rank. It says ACTIVE on it and is signed by the Police Commissioner attesting to who that person is. It also lists their height and weight. Anyone can have a badge, but it is the Police Identification Card that verifies Police Officer status.

The former Police Commissioner handed out untold numbers of these official Police Identification cards to his friends who were in no way, shape of form Rye Police Officers or for that matter, were ever Rye Police Officers.

This all came to light when a California Police Officer pulled over a Hollywood producer by the name of Tony Munafo. Munafo identified himself as a Rye Police Officer with a Rye Police Department Identification card with his name, photo, “rank” and the Police Commissioner’s signature verifying that Munafo was a Rye Police Officer. The only problem was Munafo was NEVER a Rye Police Officer. The California Police Officer became suspicious when “Rye Police Officer” Munafo didn’t know the phone number to the Rye Police Department so the California Police Officer could confirm Munafo was a Rye Police Officer.

These Official Police Department Identification Cards are used to make arrests, carry handguns, buy handguns, buy ammunition, gain access to Correctional Facilities as well as to carry out other official duties limited to SWORN Police Officers. Perhaps you think it is frivolous that non Police Officers have this access. I don’t.

The issuing and displaying of fraudulent Police Identification cards are felonies. Perhaps this seems frivolous to you as well. Not to me.

Wry, thanks for the history lesson or fiction (not sure which). Lets get back to what you were originally complaining about – the excessive legal fees that Rye has to pay?
You seem rather well connected – please tell what the majority of legal expenses were used for, and why one person has taken it upon himself to generate scores of silly claims of civil rights violations, which the City of Rye MUST respond to, by law. Is the complaintant hoping to wrangle some sort of agreement where he promises not to sue the city any more in exchange for an undisclosed amount? And what is YOUR relationship to this individual – or is it you?

Scooter:

I see that you apparently are no longer interested in “evidence” and would rather throw around innuendo. I only deal with the truth. If you can’t handle the truth or if the truth doesn’t fit into your agenda, I would understand.

As I have advised you in a previous post, it is easy to get the information you seek on Attorney fees.
All you have to do is call City Hall. First ask for Plunkett. Even though he is the Corporation Counsel for Rye, he doesn’t keep an office there so he probably won’t answer.

You can then ask to speak to the City Manager. Thanks to Otis, Shew doesn’t have to come to City Hall either so he probably won’t answer.

You can then ask to speak to former City Manager Frank Culross. He is probably there because he is being paid $15,000 to find a new Comptroller. Shew must have been too busy.

The firm Plunkett was a partner at until last year was Thacher Proffitt and Wood.

He is now a partner at DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr.

Wry, ask to have your dosage increased…

One of Mahatma Gandhi’s Seven Deadly Sins “Politics Without Principle”
http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm#politics

OMG – I think he needs a new medication. If his condition doesn’t improve, a frontal lobotomy may be the next step.

He needs ANOTHER lobotomy???

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatma Gandhi

OMG and Scooter:

Sounds to me like you two are enjoying some cream pie together.

Good quote Quotegal.