TUD General Manager Contract Change Tabled

Sonora, CA — A proposal to extend and update the Tuolumne Utilities District General Manager contract was discussed at the most recent Board Meeting. The discussion came after a debate about the 20 year Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) and Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) that was 430 pages of the agenda. The last seven pages of the agenda included the changes to the General Manager contract.

The UWMP and WSCP were approved after Ron Ringen sought to table it until he felt the public had enough time to review it. According TUD attorney, Jesse Barton, notice about the UWMP/WSCP plan was legally posted twice, and if it was not approved TUD would miss the submission deadline violating the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) statute to have it approved every five years. Barton noted the state would accept it without penalties but a delay was identified as “illegal.”

The motion to table failed 2-2 with Glen Jacobs abstaining and the approval passed with Board President Jeff Hollis, Jeff Kerns, and Jacobs in favor and Ringen and Carol Reel against. The meeting reviewed and addressed various contracts and projects and then moved to the general manager contract discussion.

The details of the extension on the table at yesterday’s meeting was a proposal to extend and update Perkins’ October 2021 contract which is set to end October 31, 2026. The extension would be for five years through October 31, 2031. The proposal also extended severance pay to 18 months of his current salary and asked to change the performance evaluation to be intended solely for performance feedback, with compensation changes approved separately by the Board. Other proposed changes included a base salary increase from $190,000 to $211,660.80 with administrative leave doubled from 40 hours and five days to 80 hours and 10 days. Also included in the proposal was a health benefit premium increase of 5% from the district paying 85% to it paying 90%, and an increase of the life insurance benefit. 

Board Member Reel expressed that the increases and extensions were too large, Hollis noted how past general managers have been voted out 3-2. Jacobs praised Perkins’ accomplishment of negotiating the recent five year union contract. Eight members of the public made strong comments against modifying the general manager contract. After the comments Reel made a motion to table the contract discussion until after Perkins’ performance evaluation in October. The vote was 4 in support and Jacobs abstained.