Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council on Monday approved a contract for its new city manager for up to $98,000 plus benefits.
City Attorney Derek Cole told the council he looked over the document, mostly written by his predecessor Dennis Crabb, and found it to be “very well written.” It included the terms as agreed upon by the council and City Manager Sean Rabe. The document listed his salary range as $81,000 to $98,000.
In public comment, Planning Commission Chairman Mike Kirkley said he thought the city manager should get the same cuts as other employees. He said they should give him the same retirement benefits as the employees agreed to in recent negotiations.
Kirkley also worried about Rabe spreading himself too thin in pursuing a higher educational degree, while leading the city administration. He said former City Manager and Police Chief Rob Duke was pursuing higher education as well when running the city, and had to hire an assistant city manager for a city of 2,600 people, which Kirkley said was “embarrassing.”
Kirkely said he assumed Rabe’s salary was $81,000, plus benefits that are greater than the city employees, which puts the city manager in a tough situation when entering into negotiations with city employees. Ed Swift agreed, saying they should treat everyone alike.
Mayor Gary Wooten said Rabe is doing the city a favor by working for a salary that is a “much lower rate than we were paying Rob Duke.”
Mayor Pro Tempore Tim Murphy said the council was trying to separate the salary from the benefits, so they did not have another $125,000 manager’s salary, about which citizens complained.
Lindsay Way said as an employer, it was hard for her to hear that having someone accept a job was doing an employer a favor.
Wooten said Rabe “did the city a favor by coming to work for the city.” Councilman Pat Crosby agreed, saying the city manager is an at-will employee working on contract.
Wooten said the city manager is “not represented by a union, and if three of five council members decide next week that they don’t want him, he would be looking for a job.”
The council approved the contract on a 5-0 vote.
Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
