Schaumburg formally hires Townsend as new manager
Schaumburg trustees Tuesday approved Brian Townsend as their new village manager, welcoming him back to where he spent seven years as assistant village manager before eight as city administrator of St. Charles.
Townsend’s official start date will be Aug. 31, though his first day in the office will be Tuesday, Sept. 3 — just after Labor Day and Schaumburg’s Septemberfest celebration.
With the selection of a manager already familiar with Schaumburg, retiring Village Manager Ken Fritz has settled on Thursday, Aug. 29, as his final day at village hall.
“The board has made a good choice,” Fritz said of his successor and former assistant. “He’ll be a good village manager. He’s been successful in St. Charles over the past eight years.”
Townsend spent a total of 12 years with Schaumburg in various positions, beginning as an intern who never left.
At Tuesday’s village board meeting, Townsend reflected on how much has changed for that intern of 20 years ago.
“I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” he said. “I’ve come a long way.”
He thanked the village board for helping fulfill a dream he could never be sure would materialize — returning to Schaumburg.
“For me, there’s not another position I’d rather have right now,” Townsend said.
He will begin his second round of employment with Schaumburg with a base salary of $205,000, a deferred compensation of $10,250 on his anniversary date, and an annual automobile allowance of $7,200 for a total of $222,450. There is also the possibility of an annual bonus.
For retiring Village Manager Ken Fritz, his equivalent earnings are budgeted at $213,789 for the current fiscal year.
Townsend’s other benefits will include health insurance, a flexible benefit contribution of $1,400 per year and a $100,000 life insurance policy.
For Fritz, total earnings and other benefits and payments for the last completed fiscal year were $318,485.
Like Fritz, Townsend will be expected to live in Schaumburg but is allowed up to two years to relocate from his present home in St. Charles.
Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said that in knowing who it wanted for the job right off the bat, the village board saved the expense of consultant fees for a search firm.
Approved: Townsend will earn salary, benefits equaling $222,450