Habersham County commissioners Monday night approved a new contract for county manager Alicia Vaughn. Her previous contract largely remains intact with a few notable changes, most significantly, her salary.
READ HABCO Manager Vaughn’s new contract
On a 4-1 vote, commissioners raised Vaughn’s base salary from $165,000 to $187,950 annually. The $22,950 increase includes a 3% cost of living adjustment she received in 2022 and $18,000 allocated as a housing allowance in her previous contract.
Under the terms of the new contract, the county will continue to provide Vaughn with a vehicle and pay for all gas, insurance, repairs, and maintenance. Additionally, the county agrees to replace the vehicle every four years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first.
Vaughn also retains her senior management retirement plan, with the county contributing 15% of her gross wages without her having to contribute.
Under the old contract, Vaughn’s housing allowance, which is now rolled into her salary, and her vehicle allowance, which was calculated separately, were also factored into her retirement pay. Under the new contract, the county will pay $28,192.50 annually into Vaughn’s retirement account. If she receives another COLA raise during the year, that amount will also increase.
Commissioners reduced the timeframe in which they would have to notify the county manager of their intent not to renew her contract from six months to 90 days.
There was no change to the severance package. Should Vaughn be fired without cause, the county would owe her 90 days’ salary. After one year, that increases by one month per year for a maximum of six months. Vaughn would have to work for the county for three years to get the full six months’ severance.
The severance also applies to her expense allowance and COBRA coverage.
Commissioners did alter the conditions of Vaughn’s required work hours, stating that she may work remotely with the commission chairman’s approval. Her previous contract allowed her to schedule Fridays off with the commission chairman’s approval.
Vaughn still had a month left on her existing contract. However, her new agreement, dated January 23, is now in effect since she and newly-elected Habersham County Commission Chair Ty Akins signed it.
Commissioners Akins, Bruce Harkness, Bruce Palmer, and Dustin Mealor approved the new contract while Commissioner Jimmy Tench voted against it.
The vote followed tense discussions over the terms, which had come under scrutiny in recent days.
Vaughn’s contract was brought to the forefront last week in a Letter to the Editor by Bob Guthrie that was published on Now Habersham. In his letter. Guthrie pointed out the terms of the county manager’s current contract and expressed concern over the pay inequity between senior management and rank-and-file employees.
After the terms of the new contract were released, Guthrie said, “I’m ok with it. I just wanted the public to know that this is what her contract says.”
Several of the concerns Guthrie addressed in his letter were also addressed in negotiations – primarly the housing allowance. While the amount was rolled into her salary, Guthrie says the terms are more transparent now.
Commissioner Tench was not ok with the negotiated deal and voted against it. All four other commissioners approved it.
Marathon meeting
The vote came on the heels of a marathon four-hour-long meeting on January 23. Commissioners spent an hour and a half of that time in executive session. When they returned to the open meeting, Harkness was the only commissioner who spoke. He said the panel hashed out an agreement “with concessions.”
“This has been quite a contentious thing for the last month. I have worked with the manager and we have even been back there tonight working on her contract, negotiating things that I did not agree with,” said Harkness. “It has no reflection on her job, has no reflection on her.”
Harkness said he was poised to vote against the contract prior to the negotiations.
“I have nothing personal against her, and she has done a good job, but the main issue is this county has – we have so many problems and so many issues right now. We even looked to see if she were to quit, can we find someone to replace her? ACCG [Association County Commissioners of Georgia] even told us there is no one out there. There’s not even a waiting list. There’s no one we could even get on an interim basis.”
Harkness continued, “We have agreed to make changes to her contract. I have had discussions with people, and I don’t want anybody to think that, as Mr. Palmer just said, I ‘waffle on issues.’ Ultimately, I work for the taxpayers, the taxpayers put me in here, and the taxpayers can also throw me out. I very well understand that.”
‘Unhappy’
Harkness acknowledged that “a lot of people are unhappy” with the county manager’s existing contract, but added, “it is in line.”
“I spoke to the county school superintendent, and he makes almost as much as she does,” he said.
Commissioner Harkness did not mention that Matthew Cooper has been Habersham County School Superintendent since 2012. Longevity has been a central issue in the public debate over Vaughn’s contract.
The county commission hired Vaughn full-time last year at a starting base salary that was $35,000 higher than her predecessor’s. Phil Sutton was making just over $130,000 a year when he resigned from the job after seven years. His received a 10% retirement.
In a separate Letter to the Editor by Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore, Palmer defended Vaughn’s salary.
“We understand that Habersham County taxpayers, myself included, pay more property taxes than any of us would like, but if we don’t have sound leadership at the top during this critical time when growth is barreling up Highway 365 into our county, we’re going to regret it…Like it or not, that growth is coming and if we don’t continue to aggressively prepare, as we’re doing under County Manager Alicia Vaughn’s leadership, we’re going to find ourselves wishing we had been ready,” Palmer said.
“The main issue is we have a lot of projects going on right now, and if she were to walk out the door, we would be in a huge mess,” Harkness said. “We have nobody that could fill her shoes at this point.”
Without offering details, Commissioner Harkness said he’s going to “try to hammer things out before her next contract comes up.”
“I do believe, at the end of the day, she is a good manager. She is doing a good job for the citizens. I do think we are going to have to work together a little more closely in the future.”
New leadership
Prior to the county manager contract vote, the Habersham County Commission unanimously elected Ty Akins as chairman. The Clarkesville businessman steps into the role Bruce Palmer held this past year.
Commissioners also elected Harkness, a Demorest attorney, as this year’s vice chair after Palmer’s failed attempt to nominate Mealor to the post. Commissioner Tench nominated Harkness. Mealor seconded the motion, and the vote carried 4-1.
