Mayor Bill Hennessy calls Lowery buyout “right thing to do”
Mayor Bill Hennessy of O’Fallon said Friday he agreed to a buyout package for former City Administrator Robert Lowery Jr. because it was “the right thing to do.”
Hennessy
Lowery’s total payout under the agreement, approved by Hennessy and the City Council late last month, could reach $176,000.
Hennessy didn’t elaborate on his reasons but said there had been an “amicable split.” Lowery could not be reached for comment Friday but his attorney, Chet Pleban, also has described the parting as amicable.
“When Mr. Lowery resigned, I accepted his resignation and thanked Bob for his years” of service, Hennessy said.
Lowery, who was hired by former Mayor Donna Morrow in 2005, did not have a contract.
A city ordinance says the city administrator serves “at the pleasure of the appointing authority” and can be removed “at will” by the mayor with the consent of a majority of the old Board of Aldermen; the city’s governing body is now called the City Council.
The ordinance also says Lowery could have requested a public hearing within 30 days of notice of removal and that he could get four months of salary after his removal - which would be about $47,000 - as long as no “acts of dishonesty” or moral turpitude were involved. His salary was $141,627 a year.
Hennessy had promised to replace Lowery during his successful campaign for mayor earlier this year.
The separation agreement includes about $54,000 in compensation for 806 hours of unused vacation, holidays, sick days and other time off owed between Lowery’s hiring in 2005 and Jan. 15 of next year.
Lowery
City officials when they released a copy of the agreement on Wednesday did not specify how many unused hours were involved; that was clarified on Thursday.
Lowery resigned as administrator effective Tuesday but will continue to be paid his regular salary through Jan. 15 while he acts as an adviser to the city; the adviser role ends Oct. 15 of next year. He is not required to work fulltime, Pleban said. He also will get a signing bonus of $10,828 and deferred compensation next year of $34,172.
The agreement says Lowery won’t sue the city. If Lowery lands a job with another Missouri municipality before Jan. 15 and is eligible to participate in the state retirement system for local employees, he will repay the signing bonus and won’t get the deferred compensation. If he gets such a job between Jan. 15 and Oct. 15, he’ll have to repay part of the signing bonus.
Lowery’s departure follows months of controversy. In January, the council suspended Lowery with pay and hired lawyers to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
The inquiry, which cost more than $45,000, turned up no improper activity. He was reinstated Feb. 26. Lowery at one point said his constitutional rights were violated after he blew the whistle on unspecified wrongdoing by some council members.
Then Hennessy was elected in April to succeed Morrow, who didn’t run for another term. Pleban said Lowery believes it makes sense for Hennessy to be able to pick his own administrator.
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If the public examines the actual facts, this is just a drop in the bucket. The money that was paid out in law suit settlements to Lowery’s buddies, the money paid out settling his messes, etc. O’Fallon should look at this as “good money to get rid of bad”. Let this fat daddies boy drag his butt back to Florissant to milk the teet of north county once again. Good riddens.
Budgets are tight from kitchen tables to board rooms but not in city government! Stop the giveaways.
Moderator-
You are correct budgets are tight. This is why you clean out the trash and send the trash back to the dump of north county. Let this pig, go back to Florissant and suck from the teet of their taxes while he is under the protective watchful eye of his “boss hog” father.
This guy is a cancer, and anyone who can not see this needs counseling. If not for his daddy, he would be nothing but a fat bitter patrolman at some third rate police department in St. Louis County.
The thought that he was appointed as City Administrator to a city of the caliber of O’Fallon is sickening. This guy can not successfully complete a game of Sim City on the computer, much less manage a city of the size of O’Fallon.
If we are matching people correctly to their qualifications: Donna Morrow would be serving tables at Denny’s and Bob Lowery would be the fat greasy fry cook serving up the orders for her.
I will chip in $25,000 if Lowery would move out of St. Charles County and return to Hazelhood or Poorissant or whatever rock he climbed out from under. I for one am sick of hearing news stories about this fat retard. Let him go back to his Daddy, the Poorissant PD, the tolken Major Case Squad assignment, or his tolken Major Case “lecturing” company. What does he even talk about for major case……Do people realize that there are actually trained qaulified people that should be doing major case. This is the last place for tolkenism assignments handed down from Dad’s connections. Suppose you have a loved one that is a victim of a crime….who do you want involved in the case. Do you want qaulified people or some fat guy showing up because of his last name. I am sure the local donut makers like his involvement in major case issues. He probably eats more long johns than Elvis coming off of a two week long speed binge.
It must be nice to have enough political clout to get a golden parachute, especially at the taxpayers’ expense. Most other people just get a kick in the behind as the door swings closed behind them.
I am not advocating a love fest for Mr Lowery. But $175,000. This is about business, the business of taxpayer dollars. This Council has no direction, no understanding. Take Bob’s case. Let him take his case to a public hearing or sue. Do you think he or his Daddy want the line to stretch down mainstreet of people who want to vent about him and his actions. This Council blinked and the taxpayers will pay. Now where is the money coming from? Tax revenues are down, building permits are down, remodeling permits are down, stimulus dollars are scarce, etc, etc. The recession will not turn like a lightswitch or turn quickly. This Council has four choices (if anyone thinks more please tell) raise taxes, cut services, cut payroll or find some stream of revenue that is fair to everyone (what that is I don’t know). If people want to contribute to this settlement that helps too. Don’t mix emotion with business. This Council’s actions in the first 90 days is spending, spending, spending. Do better.
Here is the real problem, there is no way to hold politicians accountable other than voting them out of office. Donna Morrow inserted this fool into O’Fallon at the beckening of people like Tom Wilkerson. The post dispatch should do an article on the amount of law suit litigation fees and law suit settlements that where paid under the Morrow administration. I encourage them to do this article. Citizens will be floored by this amount. However, Morrow is not held accountable. She simply has dragged her lame self back to waitressing at Denny’s, fry cook at McDonalds or whatever she did before. People do not get it, they know the ramifications when they play these games. However, they do not care. It is NOT their money. These people also had no experience in managing budgets or money. If they did, she would not still be sponging off her mom for a home or money. In the future, people should take a long hard look at their candidates. This payment is simply the termination payment to end another one of Morrow’s bonehead decision. Think about that next time you see this fool strolling around O’Fallon like she is a queen bee.
One more thing: Lowery can not even manage his own weight. With that said, why do you think he could manage anything else. Isn’t you body your temple?
Fact Check, Yes politicians are accountable at election time, like every level in this country…..we live in a democracy not a dictatorship. Thats why they vote at meetings, thats why they have records of voting, thats why people vote them in or out. I agree on the amount of money Morrow spent on legal issues was excessive and the taxpayers would be floored. Not a fan of the personal attacks though. Moderator has the point here, taxpayer dollars are being wasted by the new Mayor and Council and the residents/businesses will be the ones to ante up (yes I know all the Politicians are residents). Like he/she said you have got to do better with the budget, taxpayer dollars and your responsibility to handle taxpayer money better. Your record will be the one we vote on.
Huh-
Read the comments in full. It clearly states they are held accountable by voting them out of office. The problem, this is not enough. For these part time politicians, that is nothing. Also, “we live in a Democracy not a Dictatorship….” You obviously did not watch many meetings under the Morrow administration. The only thing missing from this mess was the arm bands and her starting the “Morrow Youth Movement”.
What a piece of junk story… it starts off with the hook that it “could cost as much as $176,000″. Which is completely ridiculous. By Ordinance Lowery gets $47,000 (4 months salary) and got $54,000 for vacation/sick time ect, which all City Employees get when they leave. So basically the Council pay about $46,000 (10K signing bonus and 36K additional) for Lowery to go away. So that’s $147,000. It never talks about any other money. So I have to believe that this means the other $30K is IF the City uses him as a consultant next year… they just got rid of him… do you think this will happen??? The Mayor and Council did the right thing here and it will take time to clean up from Morrow so don’t blame the current group for spending on things like this.
As for the comments that the Council is spending like drunk sailors. Did I miss something? What else have they spent money on in the last 3 months. I’m not a big fan of Hennessy and didn’t vote for him but did you know the first thing he did was ask all City employees to send him ideas to save tax payer money. So really… what have they spent money on???
If I had a dime for everyone who ’did not vote for Hennessy but…..’ yeah okay you did vote for Hennessy and are carrying his mail.
You ask, so here it is $100,000 to pay a consultant on the Parks System, $50,000 for a Building Code Consultant, the Neighborhood Improvement Program-a program that uses tax dollars to fix up people’s houses who violate the Codes, Unknown cost. How about giving back the escrow monies when the streets, sewers and landscaping are in disrepair. I did not vote for Hennessy. But I would like our taxdollars spent better.
You bunch of no account, white flight morons! You all left North St. Louis County 10, 15 and 20 years ago because of, “those people.” You attack and belittle the community you were to afraid to support. So you and the other Ford and MAC/Boeing workers left to O’Fallon.
Your arrogance and ignorance are showing. Why don’t you move back to New Halls Ferry, Old Halls Ferry, Lindbergh et al………………Why not start going to Jamestown Mall again? Eat at the DQ on Chambers Road, go back to school at McCluer, Hazelwood East and so on……………
And you have the unmitigated gall to complain about people like Bob Lowery and Donna Morrow.
GitnBy - Everything you mentioned was started before Hennessy was elected, most of it last year, before he even announced. So once again… I ask… what have they spent money on SINCE HE WAS ELECTED.
As for my voting… I actually didn’t vote for any of them. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for any of the three musketeers… so I wrote someone in.
Come On, as my Momma always said don’t mess with pigs, they always get you dirty and have more experience at it. But I will for the last time. Does not matter when it was started its when it is finished. Obama reversed Bush, Bush reversed Clinton, Jay Nixon reversed Blount, even Morrow reversed Renaud. Hennessey can reverse these decisions and he did not. The money is spent on his watch, its his record, he can stop it…he did not. He is the Mayor and he must answer, not pawn it off as something he inherited…its not a war its the budget silly.