By: Diane Benjamin

More on Normal’s Monday meeting:

Nobody cared that Pam Reece did not follow her current contract. This didn’t happen:

Chris Koos stated he and Pam cooked up the new contract. Poor Pam won’t get the 9 months of severance her old contract called for, the new one limits her to 20 weeks. Dang State changed the law!

The Town is still pretending laws don’t matter. Attorney Brian Day claims one of the cases I wrote about proving Pam’s contract terminates when the new Council is sworn in May actually states the opposite. He had a really difficult time not twirling he chair while he stated it. He didn’t mention this statement:

“In this case, there are several regulations at play. Section 5/3.1-30-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code provides that a mayor or president may appoint municipal officers, with the advice and consent of the city council or the board of trustees, and that the city board may prescribe that officer’s duties and the powers and his term of office, “but the term of office, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Code, shall not exceed that of the mayor or president of the municipality.” 65 ILCS 5/3.1-30-5.

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/466/1046/2403122/

If her contract is severed when the new Council is sworn in, severance pay isn’t applicable. But don’t forget Pam’s husband is a lawyer. Is she going to prove she was always about Pam and not the citizens by suing?

The council, minus Stan Nord, had no problem approving the contract that stated:

The agreement will be amended at a later date to address compensation and identify goals and
objectives. Until then, it would be appropriate to extend the employment agreement without risk of
interruption.

One thing I didn’t mention in the previous story (on purpose) https://blnnews.com/2021/02/13/normal-playing-loose-with-the-law-monday/

That is from PDF page 49 https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3898

Why does a 3 year contract need renewed each year? Because they know it expires with the Council. Even though that means every two years, voting annually means they won’t forget to do it.

Koos thinks not renewing the contract triggers severance. He evidently can’t read the above. See 35:50.

35:05. Even if the contract isn’t renewed Pam gets severance. That is new and was added by Chris Koos. Stan asked why the language was changed. Koos responded because he and Pam agreed to change it. Koos claims he didn’t hand Pam a golden parachute, but then he cut Stan off after he mentioned it.

Pam wants to make sure she cashes in case Marc Tiritilli is elected mayor. Koos wants to make sure she goes out in style.

Kevin McCarthy follows. They have always done it this way so that makes it fine. He is looking forward to doing a performance review and of course raising her $190,550 salary before benefits. Maybe they can give her 2 cars instead of just one. (Maybe a Rivian!)

Karyn Smith thinks 20 weeks severance is too low because the private sector would provide 1 week for every year of service. (2 years and you can vote her out)

37:40, another can’t miss by Kevin McCarthy. He disagrees with aligning contracts to election cycles. Dude, read the LAW. Obviously he hasn’t bothered.

The discussion starts around 29:30.