News
City Manager Roush fired
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| Martin Roush |
Council votes 4-3 for termination
Thelma Grimes and Adam Bernal/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
After a lengthy discussion Monday night, the Benson City Council voted 4-3 to terminate City Manager Martin Roush, agreeing to pay him almost $50,000 in severance and untaken vacation time.
City Council will hold a special meeting in council chambers at 6 p.m. today. Mayor Mark Fenn said he will propose the appointing of Police Chief Glenn Nichols as interim city manager.
At Monday's meeting, after a 64-minute executive session, the council returned and the motion to fire Roush ensued.
Councilwoman Lori McGoffin was the deciding vote to fire the second-year city manager, with Mayor Mark Fenn, Vice Mayor Toney King and Councilman Al Sacco in agreement. John Lodzinski, Dianne Tipton and Kathy Suagee offered the nay votes.
As per his contract, despite objections by Suagee, the council voted to pay Roush a three-month severance package. Roush's current annual salary is $120,303 and he has accrued 172.56 hours of untaken vacation time according to Finance Director Jim Cox.
Roush will receive $30,000 for the three-month severance and about $9,980 for the untaken vacation time.
McGoffin was angry last week after finding out that Roush had attached a letter to the new human resource administrative policy approved by the City Council.
Earlier this year, McGoffin had taken a similar action in asking to discuss City Attorney Thomas Benavidez's contract. Instead of terminating Benavidez, McGoffin was the deciding vote to keep him.
The new human resource policy was distributed to every employee with a letter requiring a signature last week. McGoffin said the council approved the policy, but not the statement attached to it.
In the statement, employees were asked to sign, acknowledging they had received the new policy and that they understand they are at-will employees.
The statement said that as an employee, "I further understand that all employees of the city, regardless of their classification or position, are employed on an at-will basis, and their employment is terminable at the will of the employee or the city at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. I have also been informed and understand that no officer, agent, representative, or employee of the city has any authority to enter into any agreement with any applicant for employment or employee for an employment arrangement that is not on an at-will basis. Nothing contained in the policies, procedures, handbooks or any other documents of the city shall in any way create an expressed or implied contract of employment or any employment relationship other than employment on an at-will basis."
The statement is consistent with state law, since Arizona is an at-will state and all employees, including Roush, can be terminated at any time.
During call to the public at the start of the meeting, several residents voiced their opinions of whether they approved or disapproved of the way Roush has performed as city manager.
Speaking to the council, former mayor George Scott accused the city staff of turning the council against each other and causing problems for business owners. He continued by saying the council needed to take action as soon as possible.
"Do the right thing and clean up this mess," Scott said.
Local Realtor Dave DiPeso said the economic environment in town is bad right now and believed potential intimidation is something that cannot be tolerated.
After the council discussed the issue behind closed doors, they returned for a short public discussion.
Upon their return, Tipton read a statement that showed her support for Roush and praised several achievements the council had made over the last year, including approving the city's budget in record time, opening the new community pool and making improvements to the park areas.
Despite economic problems across the country, Tipton said the city is thriving thanks to the leadership that Roush has provided during his tenure as city manager.
"We as a community have been blessed by Mr. Roush's knowledge and associations that have greatly benefited and broadened the reach of Benson for good quality staff members. This will ultimately attract new business and new families to Benson, as well as protect our future," Tipton said.
Prior to the council vote, Suagee had wanted to approve a six-month severance package for Roush, which was denied by the council. Immediately afterward, Suagee wanted to approve five-month and four-month severance packages, both of which were denied by the council.
Prior to Monday's meeting, Roush had said he wasn't concerned about the issue, noting that he felt he has been doing a good job to get Benson on the right track.
Agreeing with Roush, Cox started a petition drive on Thursday, asking city employees to support the city manager.
"We, the undersigned employees of the City of Benson, pledge our full support for our City Manager Martin Roush," Cox's petition stated. "Under Martin's guidance, the city has made great strides toward becoming an outstanding government. We want that progress to continue. We urge each City Council member to seriously reflect on all the city's accomplishments of the past two years, then vote to retain Martin Roush as the city manager."
Cox said he began circulating the petition because he feels Roush is a good leader and it was the right thing to do.
"I wanted to put out a petition of support," Cox said. "I am doing this so the council understands there's a quiet majority at City Hall that supports Martin. It was all my idea, but I did inform him what I was doing and he advised me not to get involved."
However, the drive to save Roush had to be canceled Friday morning after Cox began hearing rumors that employees felt he was pressuring them to sign the petition.
Cox denied the allegation, but said it was better to stop it before more problems arise. On Friday Cox had collected 12 signatures. There are about 90 city employees.
Despite the termination, Roush remained upbeat and felt that he accomplished a great amount during his tenure as city manager. He praised the city on the outstanding job they did with project delivery, organizational structure and the adoption of this year's budget.
"I was very honored to serve the citizens of Benson, the council and city staff," Roush said.
Roush said he's enjoyed his time in Benson and was glad to have made a lot of lifelong friends during his tenure. Roush admits he isn't sure what the future has in store but said he definitely feels like he's still part of the community and was committed to making it better.
"I loved my job as city manager. I was challenged every day and tried to make the community better every day," Roush said.
Roush said he has already planned a Disneyland vacation for him and his family and will look at his options after they return.
Thelma Grimes and Adam Bernal/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
After a lengthy discussion Monday night, the Benson City Council voted 4-3 to terminate City Manager Martin Roush, agreeing to pay him almost $50,000 in severance and untaken vacation time.
City Council will hold a special meeting in council chambers at 6 p.m. today. Mayor Mark Fenn said he will propose the appointing of Police Chief Glenn Nichols as interim city manager.
At Monday's meeting, after a 64-minute executive session, the council returned and the motion to fire Roush ensued.
Councilwoman Lori McGoffin was the deciding vote to fire the second-year city manager, with Mayor Mark Fenn, Vice Mayor Toney King and Councilman Al Sacco in agreement. John Lodzinski, Dianne Tipton and Kathy Suagee offered the nay votes.
As per his contract, despite objections by Suagee, the council voted to pay Roush a three-month severance package. Roush's current annual salary is $120,303 and he has accrued 172.56 hours of untaken vacation time according to Finance Director Jim Cox.
Roush will receive $30,000 for the three-month severance and about $9,980 for the untaken vacation time.
McGoffin was angry last week after finding out that Roush had attached a letter to the new human resource administrative policy approved by the City Council.
Earlier this year, McGoffin had taken a similar action in asking to discuss City Attorney Thomas Benavidez's contract. Instead of terminating Benavidez, McGoffin was the deciding vote to keep him.
The new human resource policy was distributed to every employee with a letter requiring a signature last week. McGoffin said the council approved the policy, but not the statement attached to it.
In the statement, employees were asked to sign, acknowledging they had received the new policy and that they understand they are at-will employees.
The statement said that as an employee, "I further understand that all employees of the city, regardless of their classification or position, are employed on an at-will basis, and their employment is terminable at the will of the employee or the city at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. I have also been informed and understand that no officer, agent, representative, or employee of the city has any authority to enter into any agreement with any applicant for employment or employee for an employment arrangement that is not on an at-will basis. Nothing contained in the policies, procedures, handbooks or any other documents of the city shall in any way create an expressed or implied contract of employment or any employment relationship other than employment on an at-will basis."
The statement is consistent with state law, since Arizona is an at-will state and all employees, including Roush, can be terminated at any time.
During call to the public at the start of the meeting, several residents voiced their opinions of whether they approved or disapproved of the way Roush has performed as city manager.
Speaking to the council, former mayor George Scott accused the city staff of turning the council against each other and causing problems for business owners. He continued by saying the council needed to take action as soon as possible.
"Do the right thing and clean up this mess," Scott said.
Local Realtor Dave DiPeso said the economic environment in town is bad right now and believed potential intimidation is something that cannot be tolerated.
After the council discussed the issue behind closed doors, they returned for a short public discussion.
Upon their return, Tipton read a statement that showed her support for Roush and praised several achievements the council had made over the last year, including approving the city's budget in record time, opening the new community pool and making improvements to the park areas.
Despite economic problems across the country, Tipton said the city is thriving thanks to the leadership that Roush has provided during his tenure as city manager.
"We as a community have been blessed by Mr. Roush's knowledge and associations that have greatly benefited and broadened the reach of Benson for good quality staff members. This will ultimately attract new business and new families to Benson, as well as protect our future," Tipton said.
Prior to the council vote, Suagee had wanted to approve a six-month severance package for Roush, which was denied by the council. Immediately afterward, Suagee wanted to approve five-month and four-month severance packages, both of which were denied by the council.
Prior to Monday's meeting, Roush had said he wasn't concerned about the issue, noting that he felt he has been doing a good job to get Benson on the right track.
Agreeing with Roush, Cox started a petition drive on Thursday, asking city employees to support the city manager.
"We, the undersigned employees of the City of Benson, pledge our full support for our City Manager Martin Roush," Cox's petition stated. "Under Martin's guidance, the city has made great strides toward becoming an outstanding government. We want that progress to continue. We urge each City Council member to seriously reflect on all the city's accomplishments of the past two years, then vote to retain Martin Roush as the city manager."
Cox said he began circulating the petition because he feels Roush is a good leader and it was the right thing to do.
"I wanted to put out a petition of support," Cox said. "I am doing this so the council understands there's a quiet majority at City Hall that supports Martin. It was all my idea, but I did inform him what I was doing and he advised me not to get involved."
However, the drive to save Roush had to be canceled Friday morning after Cox began hearing rumors that employees felt he was pressuring them to sign the petition.
Cox denied the allegation, but said it was better to stop it before more problems arise. On Friday Cox had collected 12 signatures. There are about 90 city employees.
Despite the termination, Roush remained upbeat and felt that he accomplished a great amount during his tenure as city manager. He praised the city on the outstanding job they did with project delivery, organizational structure and the adoption of this year's budget.
"I was very honored to serve the citizens of Benson, the council and city staff," Roush said.
Roush said he's enjoyed his time in Benson and was glad to have made a lot of lifelong friends during his tenure. Roush admits he isn't sure what the future has in store but said he definitely feels like he's still part of the community and was committed to making it better.
"I loved my job as city manager. I was challenged every day and tried to make the community better every day," Roush said.
Roush said he has already planned a Disneyland vacation for him and his family and will look at his options after they return.
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