PANAMA CITY − For the foreseeable future, local officials will not grant a requested severance package to the city’s retiring clerk and treasurer.
In a meeting on Aug. 11, Panama City commissioners voted 4-1 to indefinitely postpose a decision on whether to give Janette Smith a severance package she requested ahead of her retirement. According to the meeting’s agenda, Smith’s contract states the city “may pay a lump sum in an amount of up to 20 weeks of current salary at the termination of employment.”
Officials cited multiple reasons for their decision, including the fact that the city is in the midst of an ongoing − and delayed − financial audit.
“I don’t feel comfortable addressing this in light of where we’re at (with the audit),” Commissioner Josh Street said. “Paying someone with work still yet undone is not something I don’t think is a good financial decision.”
Janice Lucas was the lone member of the commission to vote against the motion. Lucas agreed that while it is not a good time to request severance pay, she worried not granting it might result in other issues for the city.
Lucas noted that in Smith’s letter to the city on the matter, Smith wrote that “the City has made these payments forthe past 12 years upon the separation of the previous three City Managers and the previous City Clerk.”
“While I agree with you that this is a bad time to be asking for severance, when our audit is incomplete, I look at the legality of what we’re up against, and I call our attention to the letter,” Lucas said. “One of the considerations that we also have is whether we are setting ourselves up for a lawsuit.
“So while I think we might want to take a little time to investigate the questions we’re asking, I don’t know that indefinitely would be the prudent approach. Becuase no decision is a decision.”
Mayor Allan Branch disagreed, adding that he believes Smith is leaving with “incomplete work.”
“I think you could argue the other direction, too, which is the clerk who decided to stay on to help us with a task didn’t complete the task,” Branch said. “I (also) would be in favor of us removing this from future contracts. I’ve never heard of severance pay for someone who decides to leave in general. I think that’s odd.”
In Smith’s letter to the city, she noted that she has foregone a pay raise since being designated a certified municipal clerk in 2024.
“I respectfully request equal treatment as my predecessors and the commission’s approval for a lump sum payment of 20 weeks of my current salary upon my termination date of August 10, 2026,” Smith wrote. “This request is strictly for salary without benefits or allowances or extending of my separation date.”
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: PC Commission indefinitely postpones decision to give clerk severance
Reporting by Nathan Cobb, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
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By Nathan Cobb, Panama City News Herald | USA TODAY Network
