Former Sumner City Administrator Diane Supler’s departure from her position may have been motivated by disagreements with the mayor, as suggested by documents obtained by public disclosure request.
The city announced Supler’s departure on April 16. On April 11, labor attorney William Michael Hanbey sent a letter to Mayor David Enslow stating Supler’s intent to leave her position and mediate a smooth transition.
According to the letter, Supler’s decision was motivated by power struggles that had led to confrontation.
“Ms. Supler has visited with me because of the changes in her working relationship with you,” the letter read. “She is aware that you have grown increasingly adamant about your role in the City government and the conflict that your efforts in that regard have caused to occur. In view of the several instances where you have engaged in confrontation with Ms. Supler, she has come to the position that she wishes to engage in an amicable transition from her role in the city government.”
Hanbey goes on to write: “It is regrettable that several of your own actions have contributed to this turn of events. From the information I have been provided, it is clear that you have a certain bias concerning Ms. Supler, her role and her activities as the City Administrator.”
Hanbey declined, in his letter, to elaborate on the alleged confrontations, stating it would ill-serve the objective of mediation.
Supler released Hanbey from her employ within two days of the letter being sent, for reasons unknown. She replaced Hanbey with employment law attorney Kelby Fletcher.
Fletcher had not read the letter sent by his predecessor, he said in a phone interview Monday. He did confirm that he completed departure negotiations with the city’s legal counsel.
“(Supler) apparently felt good enough to sign off on the agreement,” Fletcher said. “If she’s happy, I’m happy.”
There was little evidence of animosity between Supler and the mayor in emails exchanged in the month before her administrative leave, obtained by public disclosure request. Messages sent between Supler and Enslow showed they conducted most of their business face-to-face during that period, and used email primarily to schedule those meetings.
An exception is March 21, when Enslow asked Supler for follow-up on perceived low morale among city employees. Supler responded within the hour to state that any issue of low morale may have been resolved or misperceived, based on reports by department directors and personal interviews with staff. However, directors commented that some employees had been pulling double duty. Supler suggested the possibility of a survey to gauge employee thoughts on the workplace, but added that a survey might cause employees to expect change.
“I’m always concerned about our employees’ morale, from the day I took office to today,” Enslow said in a statement to the paper Friday. “Whether an officer is intervening in a domestic dispute or our building official has to break costly news to a business owner, our employees are often dealing with people in very difficult situations. We need good people coming to do this work for Sumner. We have excellent employees, and I’m always concerned about what we as elected officials and a community can do to help them do their jobs. I count Diane as one of those employees Sumner was lucky to have working here for a number of years and wish her all the best in her new role.”
Supler signed a termination and severance agreement May 10, with the mayor and City Attorney Brett Vinson signing May 17. The agreement established Supler’s voluntary resignation effective April 27 at 5 p.m.
Supler received a $78,451.55 severance package. The amount comprised two months salary at $21,488, more than 713 hours of unused vacation time, 60 hours of management leave, and 160 hours of her unused sick leave.
In her employment contract, last updated May 3, 2010, Section 4 on Termination and Severance Pay stipulates the City provide a lump sum cash payment of two months’ pay or two months’ advance written notice of termination, termination being at the discretion of the Mayor as stipulated by the City code.
The city of Sumner has used the word “termination” interchangeably to describe both involuntary departures and resignations, City Communications Director Carmen Palmer said.
In regards to the disbursement of non-wage pay to departing employees, she said: “There isn’t a strict ‘standard’ because it varies by the situation in which the employee was hired. Some have a contract, some are in one of the unions, (and) some are under unrepresented rules.”
Supler’s 2010 employment contract did not specify disbursement of accrued vacation, sick and management leave upon termination.
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