Answers given last week on the nearly $140,000 in severance former Initiatives Prince George chief executive officer Tim McEwan will receive are leaving Mayor Shari Green less than satisfied.
Reached Monday, Green questioned whether the IPG board of directors pressed hard enough on whether
McEwan had a new job lined up by the time a terms of departure agreement was signed that will see him continue to receive a
salary and benefits for a further six months.
During a press conference Friday, IPG board of directors vice-chair Mark Feldinger said an agreement was reached on Jan. 21 but not signed until Jan. 27 when board chair Glen Wonders had returned to Prince George from a business trip.
Between those two dates, Feldinger said, McEwan told directors he "expected a job offer and that he was inclined to accept it." Feldinger later said the board would not have accepted the agreement if board members had a "firm understanding" that McEwan had another job.
"But we had no other indication other than what I've already expressed to you - that he believed he would receive an offer and he was inclined to accept it and those were the terms under which we
concluded the agreement," Feldinger said.
Green said that falls in line with what she heard from board directors and it continues to leave her concerned. "What I read and what Mark Feldinger has told me repeatedly is that when they signed, they did not know he had been offered the job," Green said.
"They knew he was expecting one but they were not aware he had actually been offered one when they signed and that's why I have an issue with it.
"Had they known, they would not have signed that document and Mark said so."
McEwan did accept his new posting as head of the provincial government's major investments office on Jan. 27 after receiving the job offer on Jan. 24, Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell said Friday. Green said Wonders told her that McEwan told him on Jan. 25 he was
expecting to receive a job offer.
But on the day Wonders signed the terms of departure, the question of whether McEwan had accepted the new job appeared not to have been asked, said Green.
"If your dates are correct and Minister Bell's dates are correct, Glen signed the document two days later, silent on the issue of whether or not Tim had received and/or accepted the job," Green said.
"If the question had been asked, 'did you get the job offer?' I'm quite certain Tim would have said 'yes, I did' and I have the feeling the question wasn't asked and that's a challenge. Tim signed and probably got on the phone and accepted the other offer
immediately."
Given that the provincial cabinet passed an order in council Feb. 22 confirming McEwan's appointment to the post, Green said he should receive three weeks salary - equal to the time he had to wait for confirmation he got the job.
"In my mind, that's a reasonable period of time to be compensated, not six months," Green said.
And Green called on McEwan to agree to a less expensive package.
"I think it would be most gracious of Mr. McEwan to come back to the table and perhaps negotiate something a little less sweet," Green said. "I don't see him making a phone call to initiate that unfortunately, but it certainly would be appropriate.
"I think that the taxpayers of Prince George deserve that."
Wonders, who was not present at Friday's press conference, Feldinger and McEwan did not return request for comment Monday.
More disclosure
At the press conference Friday, Feldinger said the pay out is good value for money because IPG would otherwise have had to continue paying McEwan salary and benefits for a further 28 months until his four-year contract had run out.
According to McEwan's employment contract, IPG was required to either give him six months notice of termination of his job or pay him six months salary. Feldinger said McEwan did a good job as the CEO and was let go due to a change in direction.
McEwan's salary was also up for re-negotiation and a new figure was supposed to be reached by the end of May and Feldinger said that was also a factor in the board's
decision.
McEwan was earning $170,000 per year in salary plus an unspecified performance bonus. Acting CEO Heather Oland is earning $125,000 annually.
A new service agreement between the city and IPG is being negotiated and Green said she'll urge council to take steps to ensure there is more disclosure on terms of employment. The names of city employees who make over $75,000 a year are made public and Green said the same standard is
appropriate for IPG.
Asked if employment contracts should be disclosed to city council, Green said there needs to be a "level of comfort that these things are managed properly and professionally.
"And, certainly, the IPG board has done the best job they felt they were able to do in this situation," Green added. "If it were me at the table, I might have asked a few
different questions."
And asked if council should have final say on salaries and benefits for IPG employees, Green said "I would certainly be in favour of it."
"I don't want us to have to go down this road again as a
community," Green said.
The proposed agreement is currently in the finance and audit committee's hands but will need to go before the full council for approval.
