Tecumseh re-employs city manager with raise

In a 3-2 split vote Monday night, the Tecumseh city council approved re-employing City Manager Jim Thompson for another year and gave him a pay raise, his first since taking the job in 2007.
The decision came following a nearly one and one-half hour executive session, where the council discussed two personnel matters.
The first was the renewal of Thompson’s contract, including discussion of compensation and benefits, while the second issue was to discuss the retirement/resignation of City Clerk Joanne Medley, including payment of accrued benefits, severance and related issues, the agenda showed.
Upon returning to open session, the council, with no discussion, voted to accept Medley’s retirement/resignation, then moved on to the agenda item concerning Thompson.
Ward 1 Councilor Lou Sutterfield made a motion to re-employ Thompson at a base salary of $72,000 annually, with an amended contract beginning Jan. 1, 2010 and continuing until Dec. 31, 2010, which also correlates with the city’s fiscal year.
Sutterfield, along with Ward 3 Councilor Linda Praytor and Mayor John Collier, voted in favor of re-employing Thompson, but Ward 2 Councilor Jimmy Jordan and Ward 4 Councilor Willis Faye Motley both voted against the motion.
The amended contract with pay raise and other terms will be presented for formal approval at the council’s December meeting. Thompson, who previously served as the city manager of Prague, began his job at Tecumseh in March 2007.
Thompson, who said he hasn’t had a pay raise since being hired as Tecumseh’s city manager, said the new base salary is a $10,000 increase over his current salary of $62,000 per year. As the city is still in its beginning stages of the budget process for 2010, the council did not discuss if the city could afford the raise or how it might be funded.
Later during the public comments portion of the meeting, a longtime Tecumseh resident and educator voiced her displeasure to the board over the council’s action concerning Thompson.
Gay Gower said she couldn’t tell them everything she wanted to say in her three-minute time limit, but she made a few brief comments.
“I’m so disappointed in three of you,” Gower said from the podium, adding that her respect for them has diminished. “In fact, at this point, it is nil.”