Menu
Something's rotten
Dear Editor,
Something smells rotten in Denmark.
According to the article in the McCook Gazette dated 3/7/06, Councilman Kircher had requested an open public interview with Bingham, which was done with three prior applicants for the job. It's too late in the process to do that now, Councilman Lyons replied, as the contract has already been offered to and accepted by Bingham.
Wasn't the vote for approving the new contract to Bingham just that night? In other words, had one or more of the council members had already sent the contract to Bingham for his signature prior to the vote?
It seems highly likely that that is just what happened. I was able to obtain a copy of that contract and sure enough it is dated 3/6/06. But why would you send Bingham an employment contract before the vote had actually taken place?
It seems to me that several of our councilmen had prearranged this employment prior to any vote taking place.
Here are a couple of other interesting items I located in the new employment agreement.
| 1. | His actual base salary is $83,000 and not $82,179. It seems our city council added 1 percent of base for five years continues service. |
| 2. | The city agreed to pay his membership fees in three different associations. |
| 3. | He gets two days of vacation just for showing up to work on the 22nd of March. |
| 4. | The city agrees to pay an amount equal to 6.5 percent of his gross salary to a retirement plan of his choice. If my calculations are correct we just upped his salary to $88,395. |
| 5. | You'll love this one, the new city manager will began his employment with 374.5 hours of total sick leave. People that's 46.8 days. It seems the city carried over his sick leave from his previous employment with the city. |
| 6. | And the best for last, "Moving Expenses." The total reimbursement for moving expenses shall not exceed $11,000. |
I believe we need at least three new councilmen, so please, let's elect someone that puts the citizens and the well being of McCook first!
Kirt Matson
McCook