Shaffer's salary in Jackson was $115,000.
AMHERST — Former town manager Laurence R. Shaffer, who retired from his post here in September 2010, will receive a $64,000 severance package after retiring as City Manager in Jackson, Mich.
Shaffer served just over a year in Jackson before announcing his retirement, which will take effect Aug. 3. Bob Wheaton, a reporter for the Jackson Citizen Patriot, reports that Jackson's city council approved the employment release agreement with Shaffer Tuesday night.
Shaffer's salary in Jackson was $115,000, and he will receive payment for the remaining 5 months in 2012 – a total of $47,917 – when he leaves the job in August. Under the agreement approved by the council, Shaffer will also receive health insurance through the end of 2012 and will be paid for vacation pay, sick time and deferred compensation.
A contract Shaffer signed with the City of Jackson in May 2011 stipulated that Shaffer would give the city 60 days notice if he decided to leave the position voluntarily. In the event of an involuntary termination of Shaffer's employment, the contract reads, the city would have the option to offer Shaffer a severance package of up to four months salary and a continuation of benefits for up to four months beyond his termination date.
It was unclear Wednesday whether or not Shaffer's decision to leave Jackson was voluntary. Shaffer told the Citizen Patriot that the decision to leave was his own, but some councilors speculated that he was forced out.
"I don't think he wanted to leave," councilor Carl Breeding said in an interview with the Citizen Patriot. "I think he was asked to leave. The message was, some people weren't happy with him."
Breeding said he voted against the employment release agreement because the terms were inconsistent with those outlined in Shaffer's contract. While Shaffer did not honor the 60-day notice required for a voluntary resignation, the five-month salary payout he negotiated was also more than the four months of salary the contract allotted for an involuntary termination.
"I'm really dumbfounded as to why this all happened. That's one of the reasons I voted no on this document," Breeding told the Citizen Patriot.
The Jackson terms are similar to the retirement agreement Shaffer negotiated in Amherst. A document obtained by Amherst blogger Larry Kelley shows that on August 30, 2010 members of the Select Board -- meeting in executive session – agreed by a unanimous vote to award Shaffer four months of pay upon his retirement on Sept. 30 of that year.
At the time, Shaffer was earning $127,528, meaning the salary portion of his retirement payout would total roughly $42,500.
Kelley first reported Shaffer's departure from Jackson earlier today.
Amherst hired Shaffer to a five-year contact in 2006. In 2009, Shaffer successfully lobbied for a contract extension through 2013.
In announcing his retirement from Amherst, Shaffer – then 62 – told reporters the job had been all-consuming, and that he would be taking stock of his life. "It's time to think about other things in my life besides my career," he told The Republican in a 2010 interview. "I need to do a better job in my personal life."
After leaving Amherst, though, Shaffer immediately began applying for jobs in multiple Michigan cities. In November 2010 he failed to win a post as city manager in Essexville, Mich. In late November, he was announced as a finalist for the city manager position in Birmingham, Mich.
He was ultimately hired by Jackson in May 2011, and began work in June.
John P. Musante, formerly Amherst's assistant town manager and finance director, succeeded Shaffer as town manager.