Officials still waiting for city administrator contract
Although the contract between the city of McMinnville and David Rutherford was sent to legal counsel April 3 and was expected to be signed within the day, it has yet to be received by the city.
Mayor Royce Davenport doesn?t see this as a problem. Instead, the absence of calls is considered promising.
?I think if there is a problem, I would have been told,? said Davenport. ?The last time we spoke, about a week ago, he said he expected to be here the first week in May. Since I haven?t heard anything different, I think that is a good sign.?
Almost two weeks ago elected officials agreed Rutherford would be the best fit for the city administrator job. Legal counsel was brought in after wording of the contract presented a problem.
Apparently the contract was meant to be for one year with a salary of $71,739. Within the contract there were other stipulations, including expected vacation time for the next three years.
?Your contract is only for one year but you included stipulations for two and three years,? said legal counsel Susan Marttala. ?If this is meant to be a one-year contract, I?m not sure you can include those. You might be able to but I?ve never seen it.?
This discrepancy prompted the contract to be sent to legal counsel to be reworded and to work closely with Rutherford to come to an agreement regarding any changes.
After a quick call from Marttala to Rutherford to make sure he understood the wording and alert him to the problem, hopes were high that counsel could wrap up the contract with him that same day.
According to Davenport, he believes this situation was resolved by making the contract a renewable contract for the next three years. Even though it is automatically renewed at the end of each year, either party can still withdraw given appropriate notice.
If the contract is returned to the city signed, any changes will still have to be OK?d by elected officials. Once the contract is signed by Davenport, McMinnville will at last have a city administrator.