[R]UTLAND — Outgoing city Fire Chief Michael Jones will receive more than $35,000 as part of his severance package negotiated with the city to break his two-year contract early.
In addition, he will be paid $48 for each hour of unused sick time, vacation time or personal time prior to his effective resignation date of June 30. The agreement doesn’t specify how much that is, and the figure was not available Monday for the amount of unused time off.
Jones’ contract was scheduled to end Nov. 1.
The agreement — which VTDigger obtained Monday — says the time has come for the city to hire a new chief and move forward with a period of transition.
“Chief Jones wishes to pursue other interests, and the Mayor acknowledges the commitment and service provided by him to the city,” the first paragraph of the agreement states. “The parties wish the transition to proceed smoothly with the least disruption of service for the City and its residents.”
Jones will be paid $35,871 in severance benefits under the agreement. According to the city report, the fire chief made about $72,000 a year.
The severance payment is in addition to his payment for accrued time. City Attorney Matthew Bloomer said Monday that it is the city’s practice to pay out any unused accrued time when an employee leaves and that it was included in the agreement just to be clear.
The chief, the agreement adds, can keep “any and all” of his badges, as well as his helmet, boots and laptop.
“Chief Jones shall move all personal files, documents, data and electronic message into a single computer folder and shall allow the City, at the City’s expense, to transfer all of the remaining files, documents, data and electronic message off the lap and delete all copies of the same from the laptop,” the agreement says.
The chief did agree to leave his desk, which he obtained, at the fire station.
Both Jones and the city, according to the agreement, are giving up rights to pursue any legal claims against the other party.
The chief also has seven calendar days to “revoke his acceptance” of the agreement that he signed Friday.
Jones had endured a contentious budget process earlier this year over a proposed restructuring plan at the Fire Department that he backed along with then-Mayor Christopher Louras.
It prompted the firefighters union to pass a no-confidence vote in the fire chief. The union also endorsed Allaire in his run for mayor. In March, Allaire handily beat Louras in a four-way race.
“Leading up to the campaign and leading up to the election, there had been a lot of issues over at the Rutland Fire Department,” the mayor said Saturday. “There was a proposal brought forward by the fire chief and the mayor that was not well received by the rank and file of the Fire Department as well as very big concerns from the Board of Aldermen.”
The fire chief has said he was declining to comment on anything related to the department or the city.
Jones came to the chief position with no firefighting experience. Louras had said Jones, retired from the Vermont National Guard, had strong administrative experience and that he could use those skills to help develop the next chief from within the department.
It was “a struggle right from the get-go to get go,” Jones said in an April interview.
“We look at things differently, I would say,” Jones said at that time of his relationship with Allaire. “Where I would like to head with the department and where he would like to head are two different places. We’re probably not on the same page.”
Alderman William Notte made a motion after an executive session at a meeting last week expressing the board’s approval of the agreement.
The motion, however, did not include the words “fire chief” or “Jones.”
The one-line motion, according to a draft copy of the meeting minutes, was “to authorize the mayor to sign the proposed agreement. Motion passed.”
“I don’t deny for a minute that it was vague, but there was a need for it,” Notte said, adding that the agreement had not yet been signed by the parties, including the fire chief. The document was eventually signed Friday.
Without the agreement formalized, Notte said he didn’t want to risk having it fall apart if it became widely known before both sides signed it. He said once it was signed, he was certain the news would be released.
Notte said that although he had a hard time approving an agreement that calls for the city to pay out money and receive no further service in return, in this case it was warranted.
“It was the best possible agreement that I think the administration could come up with,” he said. “My train of thought was, if we need to give the chief a little money to get him out of the station sooner, then it was worth it.”
The alderman described the situation at the fire station as “dysfunctional” and said it could create a public safety issue for the firefighters and city residents.
Alderman Christopher Ettori, who seconded Notte’s motion, agreed.
“Things needed to change,” he said. “A mistake was made hiring him. We needed to correct that.”
