As of 5 p.m. on Valentines Day Clai Brown, who just celebrated his 10th anniversary three days earlier, will no longer be Avondale Estates’ city manager.
Tuesday night Brown signed his separation agreement. He will continue getting paid his manager’s base salary ($179,510.40 annually) through Feb. 28, but he will longer act as manager or report to city hall.
He will, however, provide consulting services to the city during its search for a new city manager from Feb. 15 through June 30.
Meantime Ken Turner, the city’s longtime financial director, was named interim.
All of this becomes official assuming the board of commissioners approves it during a special called meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at city hall, 21 North Avondale Plaza.
Brown, as he has chosen during this entire ordeal, which began with his resignation on Dec. 6 and includes his temporary un-resignation on Jan.11, declined to speak on the record. In reply to a text Tuesday night from the AJC Mayor Jonathan Elmore also declined.
Brown will receive a severance of $44,787.60 to be delivered no later than March 15. He will get paid for unused vacation and sick days, a figure that hasn’t yet been released, though initially it came to $114,000. He cannot sue the city and this agreement nullifies a previous severance amendment that was approved in February 2015.
No one on the current commission approved that severance. That amendment would’ve paid him a full year’s salary plus bonuses upon resignation, coming to $203,408.57, plus the $114,000 of accrued vacation and sick leave coming to a total $317,408.57.
As consultant Brown will get paid $6,500 per month through June 30 unless a permanent manager is hired sooner. He will work via phone or email at a maximum of 10 hours per week.
Turner, who lives in Cartersville, has been financial director for nearly as long as Brown has been manager. In December he was awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the U.S and Canada.
He takes over on Thursday, Feb. 15 and will be paid a base salary of $12,141.67 monthly until the permanent manager’s hired.
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