Contract details new city manager’s job

MOSES LAKE — When new Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams starts work on Jan. 27, the city will be paying her $160,000 per year for an “indefinite term of employment.”

According to documents obtained through a public records request, Williams will also receive the benefits that would accrue to someone with 21 years of service, and “shall be deemed to have accrued forty (40) hours of sick leave and forty (40) hours of vacation” when she begins work.

The CBH received a copy of an initial contract drafted Dec. 11, as well as a final contract signed by Williams, Mayor Karen Liebrecht and City Attorney Katherine Kenison on Dec. 24. However, the latter contract was signed erroneously, according to city officials, and it will be formally signed Jan. 14 during the regularly scheduled city council meeting. The differences between the two contracts are slight and largely deal with conditions under which the city could fire Williams for “just cause,” which the contract defines as “any misconduct materially related to performance of official duties.”

Under the revised contract, the city reduced from 16 to nine the kinds of actions that meet the definition of “just cause,” including a felony conviction under Washington law, violating the city’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination rules (or knowingly allowing another city employee to do so), illegal drug use, deliberately ignoring the city council, and “failure to comply with the International City Manager Association Code of Ethics.”

In the signed version of the contract, the “City Manager’s death” is also listed as a reason for legitimate dismissal.

While Williams’ employment is “at will,” in the event the city fires her or requests her to resign without cause, the city will owe her six months of severance pay, including benefits.

And, should Williams decide to leave the city, she must tell the council if she makes it to any final-round job interviews and give the city notice “not less than sixty (60) days in advance” if she takes another job.

While she is employed by the city, the contract also stipulates that Williams must live “within the city limits,” or if she is unable to find “suitable housing,” within the Moses Lake urban growth area.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].