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City sweetens terms in city manager contract (CONTRACT PROPOSAL)
City offices are closed Monday for Labor Day and the usually scheduled city council meeting will take place Tuesday. Destin Log Reporter Matt Algarin will be at the meeting at the City Hall Annex and will be providing a live play-by-play of the meeting online. City leaders will discuss regulating outdoor lighting, an ordinance that would amend or repeal firearm control regulations, additional current testing in East Pass and an ordinance that would extend the city’s solid waste Franchise Agreement with Waste Management. To follow along, see www.thedestinlog.com.
Destin’s new city manager may start off making more than her predecessor.
After selecting Maryann Ustick as their top city manager pick last month, city leaders will vote on her employment contract during their Sept. 6 city council meeting.
Per the agreement, Ustick, who currently serves as the acting city manager in the city of North Las Vegas, would earn an annual base salary of$119,000, which is significantly less than the $169,000 she was making in North Las Vegas.
Click here to see Ustick's proposed contract.
Ustick’s salary comes in higher than former City Manager Greg Kisela’s roughly $116,000 salary when he left the city after seven and a half years.
Councilman Dewey Destin was surprised Ustick was given the top range of the city’s preset salary range between $90,000 and $125,000.
“I would say we shouldn’t start someone out with more than what we were paying Greg after seven and a half years,” he said. “Add another $25,000, with benefits; that’s better than most cities in the state of Florida.”
The proposed contract also includes a monthly $400 automobile allowance and cell phone with an unlimited plan since the city manager is “required to be on call for 24 hour service.”
Ustick will also be entitled to a relocation package for her move to Florida. She is required to take up residence within the corporate limits of Destin within six months of her being officially hired. Ustick will receive a moving allowance that is the lowest of two estimates and a lump sum payment of $5,000 to cover costs associated with her move, such as temporary lodging, storing of household goods and home sale expenses.
Although he hadn’t seen the document yet, when asked by The Log, Destin said that the city’s choice to pay the new city manager an annual retirement benefit of 15 percent of her salary seemed a little high.
“The match up to 15 percent is not normal,” Destin said. “They are usually only about half that.”
Ustick is currently working through the transition process in North Las Vegas and told The Log after she was selected that she hopes to be in Destin in time to catch the beginning of the Destin Fishing Rodeo.
City Human Resources Director Chuck Garcia, who negotiated the contract, wouldn’t comment much on the particulars of Ustick’s contract, but said that the $119,000 salary fell within the range that was approved by the city’s elected officials.
