Malin to get cost-of-living increase

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By Tory Brecht | Tuesday, October 10, 2006 8:52 AM CDT | () comments

FILE PHOTO

After a two-hour closed session of the Davenport City Council on Monday, city administrator Craig Malin was absolved of wrongdoing in granting himself a cost-of-living wage increase.

The council rescinded its breach of contract notice from last August by a vote of 5-4, and he will receive the 3 percent raise.

After the vote, Malin said he plans to withdraw his name from consideration for the Dayton, Ohio, city manager job.

“You have to have a personal commitment to stay, and I’m committed here,” Malin said.

The city faced an almost $600,000 termination payout to Malin had it not reversed its previous notice of breach of contract, according to Alderman Charlie Brooke, 6th Ward.

In a letter drafted by Malin’s attorney, Michael Noyes, in response to the council’s demand that Malin begin paying back the cost-of-living increase, he pointed out that the city’s notice of breach constituted termination under the employment agreement. That meant the city owed him his future salary through the end of the contract, vacation days, sick time and attorney fees by this Friday, unless the contract was no longer considered in breach.

Malin had cleaned out his office and was prepared to turn in his keys, cell phone and city-owned laptop computer had the closed meeting turned out differently.

However, in a lengthy memo distributed to council members before the meeting, he stressed his preference to stay in Davenport.

“I have not invested nearly a quarter-century of my life in this profession to take advantage of a city council that, acting on flawed advice, made a mistake,” he wrote. “Had I been afforded any reasonable opportunity to answer the question regarding my 2005 and 2006 cost-of-living increases, the question could have been answered with a straightforward review of archived files by staff in the human resources department. Instead, an investigation by the legal department was hastily conceived and, at best, inelegantly pursued.”

Malin attached documentation showing that previous city administrators Mallory Cowles and James Pierce signed off on similar cost-of-living increases in 1994 and 1998. In addition, he included a letter signed by current aldermen Jamie Howard and Charlie Brooke, as well as former aldermen Steve Ahrens, Robert McGivern, Thomas Engelmann and Roxanna Moritz stating they were on the team that negotiated Malin’s current contract, and they “state unequivocally that Mr. Malin was entitled to cost-of-living adjustments under his contract, and that we believed that the contract so stated.”

Despite the memo and attachments, city corporation counsel Mary Thee stands by her office’s findings.

“Our opinion remains the same that there was a breach of contract,” Thee said. “The city council made its decision.”

Mayor Ed Winborn said he’s hopeful the city council can put this episode to rest permanently.

“I’m very happy with the outcome,” he said. “I think we can put this to bed and move forward with the business of the city. This was a contract dispute. It’s just one of those things that got blown out of proportion.”

Alderman Keith Meyer, 3rd Ward, however, is not prepared to put the issue to bed. He had to leave the closed session meeting early to attend to an obligation and did not vote but plans to ask for reconsideration during committee meetings next Thursday.

“We did not get a chance to read the information or make an informed decision,” Meyer said, noting that aldermen received Malin’s memo minutes before entering the meeting. “This isn’t fair.”

Malin said as far as he’s concerned, the issue is over, and he’s ready to get back to work.

“I, in essence, walked away from a half-million dollar payday,” he said, referring to the termination language in his contract. “I’m not in this line of work for the monetary compensation. I’ve grown fond of Davenport and the people working positively on its behalf.”

Craig Malin file

Job: Davenport city administrator. He was hired in 2001.

Pay: Last December, the city council voted to increase his pay to $150,000. City records list his current salary as $156,043.

The case: After adjourning from closed session, aldermen voted 5-4 on a “clarification and amendment” to Malin’s contract that expressly states that he is entitled to the same general wage increases that are applied to other department heads and employees and rescinding his breach of contract notice.

City’s cost: The city faced an almost $600,000 termination payout to Malin had it not reversed its previous notice of breach of contract.

Voting yes: Aldermen Ian Frink, at large; Jamie Howard, at large; Ray Ambrose, 4th Ward; Charles Brooke, 6th Ward, and Brian Dumas, 8th Ward.

Voting no: Aldermen Ron Van Fossen, 1st Ward; Shawn Hamerlinck, 2nd Ward; Bill Lynn, 5th Ward, and Barney Barnhill, 7th Ward.

Note: Alderman Keith Meyer, 3rd Ward, left the meeting before the vote was taken.

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com