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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2193 Authorizing Employment of Amy Strough as City Administrator and Further Approving Employment AgreementBILL NO. 2026-059 ORDINANCE NO. 2193 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING EMPLOYMENT OF AMY STROUGH AS CITY ADMINISTRATOR AND FURTHER APPROVING AN EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1 -EMPLOYMENT. Amy Strough is hereby employed as City Administrator for the City of Riverside effective July 8, 2026, in accordance with the terms of the Employment Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference. SECTION 2 -EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT. The mayor is hereby authorized to execute the Employment Agreement on behalf of the City. SECTION 3 -EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance is effective upon its passage by the Board of Aldermen and approval by the mayor. BE IT REMEBERED that the above was read two times by title only, PASSED AND APPROVED by a majority of the Board of Aldermen and APPROVED by the Mayor of the City of Riverside this 7th day of July 2026. /s/ Kathleen L. Rose Kathleen L. Rose, Mayor ATTEST: /s/ Melissa McChesney Melissa McChesney, City Clerk Employment Agreement between City of Riverside, Missouri and Amy Strough This Agreement is made and entered into on this 8th day of July 2026, by and between the City of Riverside, Missouri, a municipal corporation, 2950 NW Vivion Road, Riverside, MO 64150 (hereinafter called "Employer") and Amy Strough, (hereinafter called "Employee"), both of whom agree as follows: Section 1: Term This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect from the 8th day of July 2026, until terminated by Employer or Employee as provided in Section 8 of this Agreement. Section 2: Duties and Authority Employer agrees to employ Employee as City Administrator, and Employee agrees to perform the duties of that office as provided by Section 77.042, RSMo., the Municipal Code of the City of Riverside, Missouri, and other applicable law, subject to the direction and supervision of the Mayor. Section 3: Compensation A. Base Salary: Employer agrees to pay Employee an annual base salary of $188.257 .17, payable in installments at the same time that the other management employees of the Employer are paid. B. Consideration shall be given on an annual basis to an adjustment to the Employee's compensation based upon the results of the performance evaluation conducted under the provisions of Section 10 of this Agreement. C. TI1e Employer agrees to pay to the Employee, during the term of this Agreement and in addition to other salary and benefits herein provided, the sum of $4,200 per year, payable monthly, as a vehicle allowance to be used to purchase, lease, or own, operate and maintain a vehicle. Consideration shall be given on an annual basis to adjust the monthly allowance dependent upon changes in travel demands and routine vehicle fuel and maintenance costs. The Employee shall be responsible for paying for liability, property damage, and comprehensive insurance coverage upon such vehicle and shall further be responsible for all expenses attendant to the purchase, operation, maintenance, repair, and regular replacement of said vehicle. The Employer shall reimburse the Employee at the IRS standard mileage rate for any business use of the vehicle beyond the greater Kansas City area, subject to current policy for travel reimbursement that applies to all other employees. 1 Section 4: Health, Disability and Life Insurance Benefits Employee shall receive, at the Employer's expense, all disability, health benefits, and life insurance as provided to other employees of the Employer. Employee shall be responsible for paying the employee's share of such benefits as required by all other employees of the Employer. Section 5: Vacation and Sick Leave A. Employee is currently employed by Employer and shall continue employment with Employer in the position of City Administrator without any break in service. Employee's existing accrued vacation leave and sick leave balances, if any, shall carry forward and remain available for use in accordance with the Employer's Employee Handbook. B. Beginning on the effective date of this Agreement, Employee shall continue to accrue vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the Employer's Employee Handbook, as may be amended from time to time. C. Upon separation from employment for any reason, Employee shall be paid for accrued but unused vacation leave. Employee shall not be entitled to payment for accrued but unused sick leave upon separation from employment. Section 6: Retirement Employer agrees to maintain Employee in the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS) and make contributions equal to those provided to all other employees. Section 7: General Business Expenses Employer agrees to the following as may be deemed reasonable by the Employer at the time of annual budget approval: A. Employer agrees to budget for and pay for professional dues and subscriptions of the Employee necessary for full participation in national, regional, state and local associations, and organizations necessary and desirable for the Employee's continued professional participation, growth, and advancement, and for the good of the Employer. B. Employer agrees to budget for and to pay for travel and subsistence expenses of Employee for professional and official travel, meetings, and occasions to adequately continue the professional development of Employee and to pursue necessary official functions for Employer, including but not limited to the ICMA Annual Conference, the Missouri Municipal League, the Missouri City Management Association, and such other national, regional, state, and local governmental groups and committees in which Employee serves as a member. 2 C. Employer agrees to budget for and to pay for travel and subsistence expenses of Employee for short courses, institutes, and seminars that are necessary for the Employee's professional development and for the good of the Employer. D . Employer shall provide Employee with such office computer equipment, software, telephone, and other communication tools as are reasonably necessary for Employee to perform the duties of the position and maintain effective communication in the course of employment. Section 8: Termination A. It is agreed and understood that the employment relationship is at-will and may be terminated by either party with or without "Cause" ( as defined below) and with or without notice, except as provided herein. Under this Agreement, there is no contractual right to employment for a definite period of time. Accordingly, either party may terminate the employment relationship at any time. B. "Cause" means: (a) conviction of, or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, a felony; (b) conviction of, or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, any crime involving dishonesty, fraud, theft, or moral turpitude; (c) fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation, or other dishonesty involving the Employer or its property; (d) willful misconduct, gross neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office; (e) a material violation of applicable law or of any material provision of the Employee Handbook applicable to the Employee's position, including provisions relating to ethics, conflicts of interest, misuse of City funds or property, confidentiality, discrimination, or harassment; (f) a material breach of this Agreement; (g) repeated insubordination or repeated failure to carry out lawful directives; or (h) other conduct by the Employee, or criminal allegations, arrests, charges, or proceedings involving the Employee, that, in the good-faith judgment of the Employer, materially impair the Employee's ability to perform the duties of City Administrator, materially disrupt the operations of the Employer, or materially undermine public confidence in the office of City Administrator. D . In the event the Employer terminates Employee's employment without Cause, the Employer agrees to pay the severance benefit described in Section 9, provided that Employee executes, delivers, and does not revoke a Severance Agreement and Release of Claims in a form prescribed by the Employer at the time of termination, containing customary and reasonable terms and conditions and complying with applicable law. E. The Employee may terminate this Agreement and Employee's employment with the Employer by providing a thirty (30) day written notice. In this circumstance, the severance benefit described in Section 9 of this Agreement will not be available to Employee. Employee shall be paid such accrued and unused benefits, if any, as are payable under the Employer's Employee Handbook, subject to any applicable conditions, restrictions, limitations, or caps set forth therein; provided, however, that accrued but unused vacation pay shall be forfeited and shall not be paid if Employee fails to provide the thirty (30) days' prior written notice required by this Section. 3 Section 9: Severance If Employee becomes entitled to severance under Section 8.C and executes, delivers, and does not revoke the Severance Agreement and Release of Claims described in Section 8.C: A. Severance pay will be provided to the Employee when the tennination of employment is without Cause in accordance with Section 8.C of this Agreement. Cause is defined above in Section 8.B. B. When appropriate, the severance pay is a benefit equal to six (6) months of salary at the rate of pay being received at the time of termination. C. This severance benefit shall be paid in a lump sum unless otherwise agreed. Employer shall be entitled to withhold from said payments all amounts required to be withheld pursuant to applicable law. D. Subject to Section 8.C, the amounts due under this Section shall be paid within thirty (30) days after the effective date of the Severance Agreement and Release of Claims; provided, however, that if the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act applies, the Severance Agreement and Release of Claims shall not become effective until expiration of the applicable revocation period. E. The Employee has the right to elect to continue with coverage under the Employer 's group health insurance program pursuant to Employee's rights under the federal COBRA program. In the event Employee exercises said COBRA rights, the Employer shall, for a period not to exceed six (6) months from the date of termination, reimburse the Employee in an amount equivalent to the amount the Employer would have contributed toward Employee's health insurance had Employee's employment not been tenninated; provided that, in the event at any time within said six (6) month period, the Employee accepts employment with another entity where health insurance benefits are available to the Employee, the Employer's obligation to reimburse the Employee as provided herein shall cease once the Employee is eligible to obtain coverage at said new place of employment. Section 10: Performance Evaluation Employer shall annually review the performance of the Employee subject to the Employer's defined process, form, criteria, and format for the evaluation. The evaluation process, at a minimum, shall include the opportunity for both parties to: (1) prepare a written evaluation, (2) discuss the evaluation in a meeting with the Employee and the Mayor and all members of the Board of Aldermen present, and (3) present a written summary of the evaluation results. The final written evaluation should be completed and delivered to the Employee within thirty (30) days of the evaluation meeting. Section 11: Hours of Work 4 It is expected that the Employee will work a minimum of forty (40) hours per week or as otherwise necessary to complete the duties pursuant to Section 2 of this Agreement. Except as allowed for vacation leave, sick leave, holidays, or compensatory time off, Employee is generally expected to be accessible to the Employer and other employees during normal office hours. It is recognized that the Employee must devote a great deal of time outside the normal office hours on business for the Employer, and to that end Employee shall be allowed to establish an appropriate work schedule subject to the Employer's expectations. Section 12: Outside Activities The position of City Administrator shall be the Employee's primary full-time employment and professional obligation. The Employee shall devote substantially all working time, attention, skill, and efforts to the performance of Employee's duties under this Agreement; provided, however, that, with the prior approval of the Employer, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, the Employee may engage in limited teaching, consulting, speaking, writing, civic, charitable, or other outside professional activities, so long as such activities do not interfere with the performance of Employee's duties, do not create a conflict of interest, and do not violate applicable law or the Employee Handbook. Employee shall disclose all such activities to the Employer in advance. Section 13: Indemnification A. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Employer shall defend, save harmless, and indemnify Employee from and against claims, demands, suits, proceedings, damages, judgments, fines, settlements, costs, and reasonable attorneys' fees arising out of or relating to acts or omissions by Employee occurring within the course and scope of Employee's employment as City Administrator or resulting from the exercise of judgment or discretion in connection with those duties; provided, however, that Employer shall have no obligation to defend, indemnify, or hold Employee harmless with respect to any matter arising from Employee's fraud, dishonesty, bad faith, willful misconduct, criminal conduct, or acts outside the course and scope of employment. B. Employee recognizes that Employer shall have the right to compromise. C. Employer agrees to pay all reasonable litigation expenses of Employee throughout the pendency of any litigation to which Employee is a party, witness, or advisor by reason of Employee's service as City Administrator, except to the extent the underlying matter arises from Employee's fraud, dishonesty, bad faith, willful misconduct, criminal conduct, or acts outside the course and scope of Employee's employment. Section 14: Bonding Employer shall bear the full cost of any fidelity or other bonds required of the Employee under any law or ordinance. Section 15: Other Terms and Conditions of Employment 5 A. The Employer shall fix such other terms and conditions of employment, as it may determine from time to time, relating to the performance of the Employee, provided such terms and conditions are not inconsistent with or in conflict with the provisions of this Agreement, the Municipal Code of the City of Riverside, Missouri, Employer's Employee Handbook, current policy or any other applicable law. B. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, the Employee shall be entitled to the highest level of benefits that are enjoyed by other employees of the Employer as provided in the Municipal Code of the City of Riverside, Missouri, the Employee Handbook, or by practice. Section 16: Notices Notice pursuant to this Agreement shall be given by depositing in the custody of the United States Mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to (i) the City at the address set forth in this Agreement and (ii) to the Employee at such address as provided to the City Clerk. Alternatively, notice required pursuant to this Agreement may be personally served in the same manner as is applicable to civil judicial practice. Notice shall be deemed given as of the date of personal service or as the date of deposit of such written notice in the course of transmission in the United States Postal Service. Section 17: General Provisions A. Integration. This Agreement and the Municipal Code of the City of Riverside, Missouri, including the Employer's Employee Handbook, current policy or other law, except when in conflict with this Agreement, sets forth and establishes the entire understanding between the Employer and the Employee relating to the employment of the Employee by the Employer. Any prior discussions or representations by or between the parties are merged into and rendered null and void by this Agreement. The parties by mutual written agreement may amend any provision of this Agreement during the life of the Agreement. Such amendments shall be incorporated and made a part of this Agreement. B. Binding Effect. This Agreement shall be binding on the Employer and the Employee as well as their heirs, assigns, executors, personal representatives and successors in interest. C. Severability. The invalidity or partial invalidity of any portion of this Agreement will not affect the validity of any other provision. In the event that any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, the remaining provisions shall be deemed to be in full force and effect as if they have been executed by both parties subsequent to the expungement or judicial modification of the invalid provision. IN WlTNESS WHEREOF, the parties herein have executed this Agreement as of the date first written above. 6 AMY STROUGH: /s/ Amy Strough CITY OF RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI: /s/ Kathleen L. Rose Mayor Kathleen L. Rose ATTEST: /s/ Melissa McChesney Melissa McChesney, City Clerk 7