Homeless in Arizona

That recently happened to ASU Associate Professor Matthew Whitaker ($225,000) and Valley Metro CEO Stephen Banta ($260,000) who both got around $250,000 to quit their jobs when they should have been fired.

Which brings ups Michael Karey's quote of:

"Government of the people, by the elected officials and appointed bureaucrats, for the elected officials, appointed bureaucrats and special interest groups that helped get them into power"

I love this quote from the contract of Santa Clara Valley Water District CEO, Beau Goldie:

Goldie's contract also permitted him to help write his own news release if he were fired by the board and required the board in that statement to tell the public that he resigned, even if he was forced out.

Source

Santa Clara Valley Water District CEO's resignation, $278,000 payout raise questions

By Paul Rogersprogers@mercurynews.com

POSTED: 01/19/2016 06:30:40 PM PST6 COMMENTS

Last Thursday, Silicon Valley's largest water district issued a statement to the public saying that its CEO, Beau Goldie, had retired.

But what went on behind closed doors at the government agency told a different story: In truth, Goldie was forced out. Only minutes before the Santa Clara Valley Water District issued the retirement statement, Goldie and the agency's board signed a legally binding agreement saying that he was invoking the "involuntary termination" clause of his contract. He also signed a pledge not to sue the water district in exchange for six months' severance pay, about $152,630. The contract didn't allow the severance pay if he voluntarily retired.

Not only that, but Goldie's contract also permitted him to help write his own news release if he were fired by the board and required the board in that statement to tell the public that he resigned, even if he was forced out.

With the severance pay, unused sick time, vacation time and other benefits, Goldie, 56, left the agency Friday with a $278,110 payout. After 31 years on the job, his pension will be roughly $236,000 a year on top of that.

Now, his departure is raising questions about transparency with the voters whose water bills and taxes fund the agency. And it has some board members saying they weren't exactly clear on the details and that the next contract they write when they hire a new CEO will be different.

"This is an example of how hypocrisy and mendacity can be a matter of official government policy," said attorney Terry Francke, a veteran public records expert in Sacramento. "The employee and the district are permitted to lie if that suits everyone's comfort."

Francke said the seven-member board of the water district, a government agency based in San Jose that provides water and flood control to 1.8 million people, should release the full details now in a public meeting about why Goldie left.

"It is a political dismissal characterized as a voluntary resignation," said Francke, who is executive director of Californians Aware, an open records advocacy group. "Is there ever a public interest in being hoodwinked by the government in trying to hide the political nature of an action taken?"

Barbara Keegan, chairwoman of the water district board, said Tuesday that the board's hands were tied by a contract that Goldie signed with a prior water district board in 2009.

"Generally speaking, I'm not opposed to severance agreements or to somebody saving face and being given the opportunity to resign," she said. "What I'm opposed to is the board having less control over public disclosure than the board-appointed officer does. In future contracts, the board needs more flexibility."

It was not a secret that a majority of the board members, who are elected from districts around Santa Clara County to serve four-year terms, was pushing for Goldie's removal.

In October, this newspaper reported that board members had begun the process to remove Goldie.

Four board members -- Keegan, Dick Santos, Tony Estremera and Gary Kremen -- clashed with him on a variety of issues. Those included the pace at which he was diversifying the water district staff, his disagreements with union-represented water district employees, his support for Gov. Jerry Brown's controversial Delta water tunnels plan and a district attorney's investigation into no-bid contracts at the agency.

Santos said that by last week, the agency's full board had made up its mind.

"Last Tuesday, we said he is terminated, 7-0. Everybody said yes," Santos said. "But we're sympathetic to him and his family. We wanted to give him a chance to resign after 31 years."

Despite the mounting dissatisfaction, the board gave Goldie a 5 percent raise on Nov. 24, which was retroactive to July 1. Earlier in the year, on Jan. 27, the board had already given him another 3.8 percent raise, retroactive to July 1, 2014, and a one-time 7 percent bonus.

Those raises helped boost Goldie's final pay to $305,099 a year, adding thousands of dollars to his future pension benefits.

In 2009 when Goldie became CEO, he signed a contract with the district that guaranteed him severance pay and gave him the option of resigning if the board decided to fire him.

Estremera, an attorney who was on the board in 2009, said the contract was the first one the district had ever done with its CEO and that the board wanted the language included.

"When we hired a new CEO, we wanted to be able to negotiate a way out and prevent expensive litigation. That was what the idea was," Estremera said.

Goldie said Tuesday that he is proud of his service to the agency and that he helped expand recycled water in the county, boost flood control and win backing from 74 percent of voters in 2012 for a $56 annual parcel tax measure to support the agency's upgrades of dams and other equipment and restoration of creeks.

"There are seven board members. Each one is slightly different," Goldie said. "For the organization, it was a good time for me to go. There were some board members who weren't happy. But what happened is good for the organization. I'm fine. If I want to get a job, I probably could, but I'm going to retire."

Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN.