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Concern about compensation package for interim city manager

*Update 12/11/13 4:30 p.m*

Interim Cincinnati City Manager Scott Stiles now has a compensation package for the job. City Council approved the plan Wednesday after some modifications were made. Those include taking out a car allowance that was causing concern among some council members. But instead Stiles’ salary was increased, which likely covers the car expense. The new document also removed a four-year job guarantee even if a new city manager decides to terminate him. Three members voted against the package because it does include an automatic pay raise when he returns to the assistant city manager position.

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Some Cincinnati Council Members have concerns with a compensation package being proposed for interim city manager Scott Stiles. 

Mayor John Cranley wants him to run the city administration while a national search is conducted for a permanent replacement.  Cranley's decision comes after Parks Director Willie Carden took his name out of consideration for the job last week.

As interim city manager, Stiles would be paid just more than $9,038 every two weeks.  Council members seem okay with that salary.

But there is concern about him getting a car allowance, which a Council majority has been trying to eliminate.  Plus he would be guaranteed to keep his assistant city manager position for the Mayor Cranley's term or the next four years. 

Some council members call that a "golden parachute."

"If someone else is selected as city manager," Vice mayor David Mann said. "And for some reason the chemistry is bad between the two of you, and God forbid that person decides to terminate you, the city's on the hook for $600,000.  Somehow this doesn't make sense."

Mann pointed out Carden's proposed compensation package didn't include such a severance package.  But his deal did promise him a city job for three years, so he would eligible to receive his city pension.

Stiles has worked for the city for 26 years.  A four-year job guarantee would make him eligible for a city pension. 

"I do think that a guaranteed salary for four years, particularly if we have a city manager that wants to go a different direction, is a lot to put on the taxpayer," Council Member Yvette Simpson said.

Stiles says he has not decided whether to apply to be the next permanent city manager. 

If concerns about the compensation package can be addressed quickly, Council could vote on it Wednesday.  Otherwise it will be held until next week.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.