Kathleen E. Gill will be paid $444,848 in lump sum payments over the next 90 days — and receive (potentially) lifetime medical benefits without having to pay premiums.
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (April 13, 2024) — New Rochelle taxpayers are waking up this morning to learn how bad a negotiator their new Mayor has proven to be.
With less than 8 months to go on a contract Yadira Ramos-Herbert voted to give Kathleen Gill on November 29, 2022, the Mayor negotiated a deal under which Gill is to be paid 14 months salary plus a buyout of 6 months worth of personal and sick days — and generous medical benefits.
It is what happens when a lead negotiator puts a gun to their own head and threatens to pull the trigger.
Gill, who started as City Manager on January 1, 2023, served just 15 months and 9 days of the 24-month contract approved by the New Rochelle City Council 16 months ago.
New Rochelle City Council Votes to Hire Kathleen Gill as City Manager
Had Ramos-Herbert simply announced a search for a new City Manager on March 25, 2024, the day she attempted to dismiss Gill, there would have been no need for a Separation Agreement. Her contract ran until the end of 2024. Gill would have been paid 9 months salary — likely far less as she is eminently hireable — without free lifetime medical benefits, legal costs and melodrama. There is precedent. Former Mayor Noam Bramson proposed starting a search to replace former City Manager Chuck Strome at the end of 2022 on March 8, 2022.
On April 9, 2024, Kathleen E. Gill and the City of New Rochelle signed a Settlement Agreement and General Release of Claims. We obtained a copy a few hours ago under a Freedom of Information request.
Gill was replaced Tuesday by Deputy City Manager Adam Salgado, appointed by City Council as Interim City Manager. By Thursday, Salgado was out, replaced by Commissioner of Public Works Wilfredo Melendez. Salgado will return to his position of Commissioner of Economic Development. A formal announcement is expected next week following the City Council meeting on April 16. Meeting agendas are normally published the week before, but not for the April 16 meeting.
Melendez was appointed Commissioner of Public Works on February 6, 2023, and has extensive municipal experience. His official biography is here.
For the most part, the Settlement Agreement and General Release of Claims is standard boilerplate, typically found in such an agreement, but with the following details:
The direct financial cost of the agreement, excluding any other costs borne by the City of New Rochelle, such as payroll taxes or payments into the pension system, is not explicitly stated.
Gill’s annual salary was $239,663 or $19,972 per month (or $239,663/12) or $918 per day ($239,663/261).
The separation agreement will pay Gill $444,848 in lump sum payments over the next 90 days:
- 10 months salary ($199,720), payable in a lump sum within 30 days of April 9, 2024.
- 4 months salary ($79,888), payable in a lump sum within three months of April 9, 2024.
- 40 days of Unused and Accrued Days ($36,720), payable in a lump sum within 14 days of April 9, 2024.
- 140 days of Unused and Accrued Days ($128,520), payable in a lump sum within 14 days of April 9, 2024.
The Agreement also includes an open-ended commitment to continue Gill’s health insurance coverage, without premium contribution, unless she secures another job with equivalent coverage without premium contribution or retires before taking another job.
The City has not said how they intend to fund the large unanticipated costs — from the budget or the fund balance. That question will likely be raised during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
Under terms of the Agreement, any statement made by Gill and/or any member of City Council or City official relative to the separation shall be limited to the following: “Kathleen Gill has submitted her letter of resignation in order to pursue other opportunities. She is grateful for her 27 years of service to the City of New Rochelle and is proud to have worked with so many hard-working and dedicated City employees.”
It appears that this condition of the Separation Agreement was violated twice, yesterday:
Kathleen Gill, veteran New Rochelle official, resigns as city manager after 16 months
David McKay Wilson reported in The Journal News that Mayor Ramos-Herbert went off script soon after she signed the Agreement.
Ramos-Herbert said Friday that Gill’s enforcement of the city Code of Ethics was not involved in Gill’s resigned (sic).
“She resigned,” Ramos-Herbert said. “That’s what ultimately happened.”
Likewise with Council Member Albert Tarantino, Wilson reported Tarantino did not adhere to the terms of the Agreement.
City Councilman Al Tarantino said Gill’s two-year contract would expire at the end of 2024, so there was almost nine months left on the accord. SeeThroughNY states that Gill’s salary for 2023 was $239,663.
He said Gill’s resignation was forced. “Normally, you’d give someone in a position like this six months notice, so they could have an opportunity to look for a new job,” said Tarantino, the lone Republican on the seven-person board. “But this was a personal issue. It was a forced resignation, and it was obvious there were people who were willing to dismiss her. At least they backed off. That would have been a very negative thing.”
Tarantino is referring to litigation as a “very negative thing” by which he means for those Council Members involved in removing Gill.
The boilerplate for these types of agreements typically states the terms are confidential and cannot be disclosed, which is nonsensical because such agreements are public records.
- The parties agree that they will keep the terms of the Agreement in the strictest confidence and shall not disclose either the existence or terms of the agreement, including the underlying facts and circumstances regarding Gill’s Separation from City employment, to any third party, including the media, without the other’s prior written consent, except to a member of such party’s immediate family, attorney, financial and/or tax advisor as required by law or legal process. The parties will instruct any individual to whom they disclose information protected herein regarding the requirements of this paragraph before making the disclosure. If either party is required to make a disclosure inconsistent with this provision, they will notify the other party in writing within five calendar days of receiving notice of the need to make the disclosure and will provide the other party with a copy of the order, subpoena or other document requiring disclosure. The parties will also provide reasonable cooperation to each other in the event that they seek to prevent the disclosure. For purposes of this Agreement, the term “media” will include, but not be limited to: the press; the publishing industry; the motion picture industry; any radio or television station, network, or outlet; and any website, social media site (including, but not limited to, Facebook, Linkedln, Twitter and Instagram, or blog.)
More importantly, this section means Gill can turn over records if subpoenaed and could speak freely with criminal investigators. More on this soon.
The agreement we received under a Freedom of Information request included Gill’s home address, personal mobile phone number and personal email address. We are not publishing that information but have asked the City Clerk to explain why this information was not redacted in the copy we received.
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