Cary village administrator dismissed
The village of Cary will begin a search for a new village administrator after longtime Administrator Cameron Davis was dismissed this week.
The decision was not prompted by any specific incident or disagreement between Davis and village officials, Village President Tom Kierna said.
“It wasn’t anything that (Davis) did or didn’t do right. It was a decision that I made to move the village in a new direction,” Kierna said. “Mr. Davis was looking to move forward.”
The board unanimously approved the dismissal and a termination agreement Tuesday night.
The agreement calls for Davis to receive six months’ pay plus a 1.7 percent cost of living increase that will kick in May 1. The increase applies to all village nonunion employees, Kierna said. Davis’ annual salary was $134,139, said Tara Semenchuk, assistant to the village administrator.
Cary Finance Director Ron Pfeiffer said the village will also pay Davis a lump sum of $47,500 for accrued vacation, personal and sick time, and 36 hours of comp time.
The village will also continue to contribute to Davis’ retirement benefits for six months, and will his health benefits for 12 months.
Davis, whose contract would have expired April 30, 2013, could not be reached for comment.
Davis was first hired as assistant village administrator in 1995, and promoted to village administrator in 2000. He was the longest-serving administrator in village history.
Kierna said he thought four new trustees, who will be sworn in May 3, would eventually have pushed to dismiss Davis. “They were moving in a direction to terminate Mr. Davis,” Kierna claimed, though he didn’t say how he reached that opinion since he said he hadn’t discussed the issue with the new trustees.
Trustee-elect Bruce Kaplan refuted Kierna’s notion. Kaplan acknowledged he and Davis had differences of opinion, especially regarding what Kaplan called the village’s “business-unfriendly” attitude.
However, “There was never any plan to terminate (Davis),” Kaplan said.
“I wished it hadn’t happened,” he said. “I feel like Cam Davis was a nice guy, he was a capable administrator. The whole point ... it should be a smooth transition (after an election), but now there is an element of chaos thrown in.”
Kaplan said he believes it was Davis’ decision to leave the village. “He was probably thinking he was going to have an uphill battle with the new board, and maybe he wasn’t up for the contentiousness that he anticipated.”
Kaplan also questioned the village’s decision to give Davis a “generous” severance pay. “For this to happen and the taxpayers to be shorted thousands of dollars is a stunning turn of events,” he said.
Kierna said he will contact the Illinois City/County Management Association to bring in an interim administrator. Once the new board is seated, discussions regarding the search for a permanent hire will begin, he said.
In the meantime, Kierna said he and the department heads will split Davis’ workload.