In a 3-1 vote, the Century Council approved Interim City Manager Vernon Prather to become city manager for Century, with Councilman James Smith voting no.
Prather had presented a contract to council members at the town's last council meeting.
Prather will have a salary of $40 an hour, for 30 hours every week for a total of $1,200 weekly until Dec. 1, 2020. He will also receive $600 a month to use his own private vehicle to perform work related activities for the town. Prather's total salary will be $59,000 in year, although no other benefits, such as insurance or retirement, will be offered.
Councilwoman Ann Brooks had asked Prather to make changes regarding suspension and those changes were made by town attorney Matt Dannheiser.
The contract approved Tuesday states Prather would meet with the mayor and town council every three months to evaluate his performance, with the option to terminate his contract at any point in the next 11 months. Councilwoman Brooks requested that be changed to monthly upon approval, which it was.
“I'm happy to meet with the board every two months just at a council meeting,” said Prather. “The way I look at some of this discussion in defining goals and performance objectives is to meet with me outside the council meeting and say, hey, this is what I like, can you do this or that, or we can just handle it at the end of every meeting.”
Prather said the town has about $8 million worth of projects, just on the waste water side, and $2 million worth of projects with the water treatment side. He said he will be in Century Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. He said if something comes up on Wednesdays, he cannot be there.
Councilman Luis Gomez said he was concerned that Prather had 'sole discretion as to his work schedule and hours worked.'
“My thing with that is, you get $40 an hour for a 30 hour week, and we are the employers but don't have any ideas of your schedule,” said Gomez.
Gomez referred to him as an employee, but Councilwoman Brooks reminded Gomez that Prather is a contractor, not an employer.
“I think his work is best measured by him performing what he needs to perform,” said Brooks. “If we don't see the gas department and the water department being taken care of, I think that's going to be our reason to terminate.”
Gomez said he had a problem with the $600 a month vehicle allowance and that he is looking out for the employees who come in to work in the town every day. He suggested a per diem vs. $600. Prather noted that he took 30 hours and no benefits, pointing out that the total salary is less than $70,000 a year.
Councilman James Smith pointed out that Gomez is having the same argument he had at an earlier meeting about hiring Prather. Gomez said that the town would not find someone with Prather's expertise for the money, but that he is temporary. He said if the town hires a city manager will be up to the charter review committee and the people of Century to determine that.
“I was just saying the $600 stood out for me,” said Gomez. “In other words, you're going to tell an employee who has been here 20 years, we don't have any money, but then you hire somebody and give them $40 and hour, which is cheap for a city manager, but then on top of that, $600 more for auto allowance, that doesn't look good for other employees.”
“Again, this is exactly what I was talking about,” said Councilman Smith. “I had that same conversation. This is the point I was trying to make.”
In a motion made by Gomez and seconded by Councilwoman Sandra McMurray Jackson, the motion carried 3 to 1. Councilman Smith voted no.
