AGREEMENT TO SERVE AS CITY MANAGER (6)
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EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT is made and entered on June~, 1997, by and between
the CITY OF CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, (hereinafter the "City"), and MICHAEL J.
ROBERTO (hereinafter "Employee"),
WHEREAS, the City Commission selected Employee at public meeting on May
15, 1997, to serve as City Manager; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City Commission to provide certain benefits,
establish certain conditions of employment, and set working conditions of the Employee;
and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the City Commission (1) to secure and retain the
services of Employee and provide inducement for him to remain in such employment;
(2) to make possible full work productivity by assuring Employee's morale and peace of
mind with respect to future security; (3) to act as a deterrent against malfeasance or
dishonesty for personal gain on the part of the Employee; and (4) to provide a just
means for terminating Employee's services; and
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein,
the parties agree as follows:
Section 1, Duties and Responsibilities,
(a) Employee agrees to serve as City Manager of Clearwater and to fill the
duties of that office as set forth in the City Code and City Charter,
(b) Employee agrees to remain in the exclusive employ of the City and shall
not engage in any other employment or business activity without speCific prior approval
of the City Commission,
(c) Employee agrees to continually provide his best efforts to efficiently and
effectively perform his duties in a professional manner, uphold the City regulations and
policies, support the council/manager form of govemment as expressed in the City
Charter of the City of Clearwater, advance the mission statement values and principles
of operation as adopted by the City Commission, and abide by ethical standards of
conduct including the City's Code of Ethics,
Section 2, Term,
(a) Employee serves at the pleasure of the City Commission. Nothing in this
Agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the City
Commission to terminate the services of Employee at any time in accordance with the
applicable provisions of the City Charter,
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(b) Nothing in this agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with
the right of the Employee to resign at any time,
(c) Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to establish a fixed term of
office,
(d) Employment shall commence on June 23, 1997, and shall continue
thereafter until terminated in accordance with this Agreement.
Section 3. Termination and Severance Pay,
(a) The City specifically agrees that because the City Manager is a full-time
employee of the City, the sole remedy for any error, omission, negligence or the like of
the City Manager is termination of employment, except as otherwise provided in the
City's Ethics Ordinance, whereby the City may recover any pecuniary benefits received
by the Employee because of the violation of said ordinance,
(b) Employee agrees that because his continued employment as City
Manager is solely at the discretion of the City Commission, should employment be
terminated by the City Commission for any reason, Employee hereby expressly waives
any right to seek redress in any manner except as herein provided,
(c) Termination Without Cause, In the event the Employee is terminated by
the City Commission during such time that the Employee is willing and able to perform
the duties of City Manager and such termination is without cause, then in this event the
City agrees to pay the Employee on the last day of employment:
1, If employee is terminated within the first 24 months of
employment, a lump sum cash payment equal to nine (9) months' aggregate salary at
the rate in effect at the time of termination, (Aggregate salary shall include the base
compensation of the Employee and deferred compensation. Deferred compensation
payments that are due shall be deposited with the appropriate fund for the benefit of the
Employee)" If employee is terminated at anytime thereafter, this lump sum payment
will be reduced to six (6) months aggregate salary at the rate in effect at time of
termination, In the event the Employee is terminated by a 3-2 vote of the City
Commission after the first 24 months of employment, the Employee will be entitled to a
lump sum cash payment equal to two (2) additional months aggregate salary.
2,
the Employee,
All accumulated and unused general leave (as herein defined) of
(d) Termination of the Employee's contract by the City within the meaning of
this section shall mean any formal or informal action of the City Commission requesting
that he resign or dismissing him from his employment with the City, The Employee may
elect to treat as termination of his employment by the City, within the meaning of this
section of the agreement, any other action of the City Commission which eliminates or
reduces benefits to which the Employee is entitled under this Employment Agreement,
the City Charter, or the City Code of Ordinances or the role of City Manager as defined
in the Charter, in a greater percentage than an applicable across-the-board reduction for
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other executive/managerial personnel of the City or whose purpose is to induce the
Employee to terminate employment with the City,
(e) Termination because of illness or injury, In the event Employee is
terminated by the City Commission or elects to resign his position because the
Employee is beset with any chronic, debilitating illness or injury which prevents
Employee from undertaking or performing the responsibilities of the position of City
Manager, then in that event the City Commission agrees to pay the Employee on the
last day of employment:
1, If employee is terminated within the first 24 months of
employment, a lump sum cash payment equal to nine (9) months' aggregate salary at
the rate in effect at the time of termination, (Aggregate salary shall include the base
compensation of the Employee and deferred compensation, Deferred compensation
payments that are due shall be deposited with the appropriate fund for the benefit of the
Employee)" If employee is terminated at anytime thereafter, this lump sum payment
will be reduced to six (6) months aggregate salary at the rate in effect at time of
termination, In the event the Employee is terminated by a 3-2 vote of the City
Commission after the first 24 months of employment, the Employee will be entitled to a
lump sum cash payment equal to two (2) additional months aggregate salary,
2, All accumulated and unused general leave of the Employee.
(f) Termination for Cause, In the event the Employee is terminated by the
City Commission for proper and just cause, including but not limited to misfeasance,
malfeasance, neglect of duty, conviction of a felony, the Employee shall receive no
severance pay but shall be paid only for any accrued and unused general leave,
Should the Commission terminate Employee for proper and just cause then the
Commission agrees upon request of Employee to appoint a hearing officer, mutually
acceptable to the Commission and Employee. The hearing Officer shall conduct a
hearing and issue findings of facts within 60 days of the termination, The Commission
and Employee will be bound by the findings of fact. The Commission will provide the
Employee an opportunity to respond to the fact report at a public hearing,
(g) Voluntarv Resiqnation, In the event Employee resigns to accept other
employment or for reasons other than those enumerated above, the Employee shall not
receive any severance pay, but shall be paid for the accrued and unused general leave
as of the effective date of the resignation, The Employee agrees to inform the City
Commission in writing of voluntary resignation and shall provide at least two months'
notice in advance unless the Employee and City Commission otherwise agree,
(h) In the event of termination pursuant to Paragraphs (c), (d), and (e)
hereinabove, the Employee shall have the option of structuring the payout over a period
not to exceed two (2) years, Employee shall not be entitled to interest on said amounts,
During the structured payout period, Employee shall not be considered an employee of
the City for any purpose and shall not be entitled to any benefits,
(I) In the event of any termination as set forth herein other than a voluntary
resignation pursuant to Paragraph (g) hereinabove, the City agrees to continue paying
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its portion of medical insurance, including but not limited to, COBRA benefits for
Employee only, for a period not to exceed the severance period provided herein, In the
event that during such period Employee shall obtain other employment wherein such
benefits are paid, the City's obligation to continue paying such medical and other
insurance shall cease as of the effective date of such other insurance coverage or the
end of the severance period, which ever comes first.
Section 4, Salarv and Other Benefits,
(a) The City agrees to pay the Employee for his services pursuant hereto an
annual base salary of $104,000,00, made payable in bi-weekly installments beginning
with payroll period ending July 6, 1997, payroll check dated July 11 , 1997, with a
review of salary and benefits annually in October of each year beginning in 1997.
(b) The City agrees to contribute an amount equal to fifteen percent of
Employee's annual base salary to the designated deferred compensation program on
behalf of the Employee, such contributions to be made on a pro rata bi-weekly basis,
The designated preferred compensation program shall be the International City/County
Management Association Retirement Corporation (ICMA-RC) 401A Retirement Plan,
Employer agrees to execute and deliver all necessary agreements required in
connection with said Plan. In the event of termination of the Employee, at Employee's
option, the City may designate all or any part of his termination benefits to be paid into
said Retirement Plan, if permitted by law, Upon resignation or termination, the City
agrees to transfer ownership of said Plan to the succeeding employer of Employee the
Employee shall designate, In the event that contributions to the 401A plan pursuant to
this paragraph are determined to be discriminatory or otherwise unlawful, the parties
agree to negotiate in good faith an aiternative method of providing Employee equal or
similar benefit.
(c)
The Employee shall be covered by federal social security,
(d)
expense:
Employee shall be provided the following benefits at City's cost and
1, Coverage under the City's hospitalization and major medical
program with the City paying the cost for Employee coverage. This program may at
times have multiple plan options for the Employee, The Employee may include
dependent coverage under the program at the city employee group rate if desired and
subject to such limitations and available options as provided in such program,
2, The City shall pay $1,174,00 for the Employee his existing
Jefferson Pilot Disability Policy Numbers /100 <> ;J..~S8K on date due,
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3. Employee will be provided with 10 paid holidays each year taken
in accordance with practices utilized for other executive managerial personnel.
4. The City agrees to pay the reasonable dues and subscriptions of
the Employee necessary for full participation in national, regional, state and local
associations and organizations necessary and desirable for the good of the City.
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5, The City agrees to pay travel and subsistence expenses of the
Employee for professional and official travel,
6, Employee shall establish residency within the City within one year
of appointment to the City Manager position.
7, The City shall pay all direct moving expenses related to the moving
and relocation of the Employee's family based on the lowest bid subject to obtaining
three bids and accepting the best of the three, The City shall not be obligated to pay
more than a total of $15,000 for the expenses contained in this paragraph 7 and
paragraph 8 below,
8, The City shall reimburse up to a maximum of $10,000 for travel
relating to the relocation and the cost of housing and related expenses(except utility
deposits) for up to 6 months or until the sale and closing on Employee's home in
Plantation which ever comes first. The amount so reimbursed shall be considered a
loan to the Employee which shall be forgiven in equal amounts over three years
beginning in 1998, In the event Employee leaves employment of the City before June
24, 2000, Employee shall be obligated and hereby agrees to repay the amount
remaining,
9, The City agrees to pay $1,255,00 of the required premiums on
Employee's existing Jefferson Pilot Universal Life Insurance Policy Number:rrr>>6'9<l1 on
the date due,
10, The City at its expense shall provide Employee with a fully
equipped vehicle for business use and incidental private use, The vehicle shall be
covered by the City's self insurance for liability, property damage and comprehensive
insurance coverage, The City shall provide for the operation (including all fuel and
lubricants), maintenance, and repair of said vehicle,
11. The Employee shall be given "general leave" in lieu of vacation,
sick leave, and floating holidays at a rate of thirty-five (35) days per year to be credited
on June 23 of each year beginning on June 23, 1997, Accumulation of general leave
shall be capped at 90 days, When Employee reaches the cap, the Commission agrees
to consider an increase to the cap or buy back of leave, During the first six months of
employment, Employee may use no more than five days general leave, except in the
case of serious illness or other extenuating circumstances,
Section 5, Performance Evaluation,
(a) The City Commission shall review the Employee at least once annually in
accordance with the City Charter, That review and evaluation shall be in accordance
with specific criteria developed jointly by the City Commission and the Employee, Said
criteria may be added or deleted as the City Commission may from time to time
determine in consultation with the Employee.
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(b) Annually the City Commission and Employee shall define such goals and
performance objectives as they determine necessary for proper operation of the City
and the attainment of the City Commission's policy objectives and shall further establish
a relative priority among those various goals and objectives, said goals and objectives to
be reduced to writing. They shall generally be obtainable within the time limit as
specified in the operating budget and capital improvements and appropriations provided.
(c) In effectuating the provisions of this section, the City Commission and
Employee mutually agree to abide by the provisions of the City Charter,
Section 6, Other Terms and Conditions of Emolovment.
(a) The City Commission shall fix any such other reasonable terms and
conditions of employment as it may determine from time to time regarding the
performance of the Employee provided such terms and conditions are not inconsistent
with or conflict with the provisions of this agreement, the City Charter or any other law.
Section 7, General Provisions,
(a) The members of the City Commission and Employee agree to work in the
spirit of open communication, cooperation, and an atmosphere of mutual trust and
support to attain shared goals.
(b) The language of the City Charter as it may be amended from time to time
with regard to the powers and duties of the City Manager is incorporated herein by
reference, The text herein including the aforesaid provisions of the City Charter and the
City Code shall constitute the entire agreement between the parties,
(c) This Employment Agreement shall become effective as of June 23, 1997
and shall inure to the benefit of the Employee, his heirs and personal representatives,
(d) If any provision or portion thereof contained in this agreement is held to
be unconstitutional or invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this agreement or
portion thereof shall be deemed severable and not be affected and shall remain in full
force and effect,
(e) The City shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Employee as
provided in Chapter 2 Article 2 of the Clearwater Code of Ordinances as adopted on
February 4, 1993,
Section 8, This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the
parties hereto as to the matters herein contained and shall not be modified in any
respect except by an amendment in writing signed by the parties hereto,
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Signature Page - Employment Agreement between Michael J, Roberto and
City of Clearwater
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this agreement to be
duly executed this Cll""- day of June, 1997,
By:
Rita Garvey
Mayor-Commissioner
Approved as to form:
..t!A l
City Attorney
Attest:
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CHAEL J, ROBERTO
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