East Hartford mayor boosted her own retirement benefits without approval
EAST HARTFORD — East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc increased the level of her own retirement benefits without seeking town council approval, council leaders say.
The mayor’s actions, along with decisions to grant pay increases to the police and fire chiefs and public works director without required council approval, have come under scrutiny, and an investigation is underway. Council Chairman Rich Kehoe said the issues have been referred to subcommittees “to straighten out the mess.”
Leclerc, whose annual salary as of Nov. 1 will be
$100,221, said she did nothing wrong and worked within a system established many years before she became mayor 11 years ago.
“I have followed protocol that has been in place forever,” Leclerc said. “I get the same benefits as any employee.”
Republican council member John Morrison said his initial reaction on learning that the mayor had amended rules to benefit herself was, “Howcan she do this? Why is she doing this? It raises suspicions.
“I don’t think I would have had the courage to do something like that if I was mayor.”
Writing the rules
The town charter says the mayor shall prepare personnel rules for employees covering everything from work hours to sick leave. Kehoe said the rules were designed to address issues not covered in labor contracts
and to apply contracted benefits to non-unionized town employees.
“The attempt was to create a level playing field between unionized workers and non-unionized employees on the benefits side,” he said. “The rules also filled in any gaps in disciplinary provisions, for example, that might not have been part of a labor contract.”
The rules become effective each year after filing with the town clerk. Rules that the clerk stamped in October 2017 say the mayor can be defined as a “retired employee” after three terms in office and thus eligible for retiree medical benefits. Leclerc, now 62, was closing out three terms at the time, and would have received the benefits even if she lost the election that year.
That section, Leclerc said, was created to conform to benefits afforded all directors and the police and fire chiefs.
In rules that the town clerk stamped on June 30, 2020, the mayor was among employees granted an increase in the town’s contribution to the employee pension plan, from 8.5% to 10%. As mayor, Leclerc said, she is afforded a retirement plan, and the increase was not out of line with similar benefits granted in other towns.
“I feel entitled to benefits, and if there were no benefits associated with the position, why would someone serve ?” she said. “The job of mayor is not glamorous; it is hard workand24⁄ 7, 365 days a year. I have limited support staff and depth in departments.”
Since they were brought to light earlier this year, the changes Leclerc made to town personnel rules have been deemed unauthorized and not in effect, Kehoe said Thursday.
There has been a longtime misperception, Kehoe said, that department directors and other positions, including the mayor, could be included in the personnel rules. He and council Minority Leader Esther Clarke wrote in a recent memo to the council that the personnel rules “over time — predating the current mayor — have been extended to town directors and others. ... This seems in conflict with the town charter provision providing that the authority for compensation for non-classified service personnel is placed in the town council.”
“Provisions of the personnel rules, regardless of when they were inserted, that apply to directors and the mayor have no effect because the town council has not reviewed and approved them,” Kehoe said Thursday.
“For decades,” Leclerc countered, “the personnel rules have been amended and the changes have not been approved by the council.
“The intention for the increase (in the pension plan) was to compensate directors whose wages have been significantly suppressed for years and by not looking holistically at their compensation levels compared to their peers and their union employees.”
Also in the personnel rules that the town clerk stamped this year, the mayor was added to a section that previously applied only to directors who were not reappointed by a new mayor. The targeted employees were to receive 6 months of medical insurance coverage, and departing pay was hiked from 12 to 24 weeks under the revised rules.
It was evident as the town sought to fill several directors’ positions, including finance, health and human resources, that “any professional worth their value would need some type of surety to take a town position,” Leclerc said.
But inclusion of the mayor’s position in that section, she said, was an error and has been removed.
Higher pay
The other main issue under review by council subcommittees is compensation for the town’s police and fire chiefs and public works director. Each receives an annual salary of $165,00, approved by Leclerc within the past year. However, wages listed in the current budget are $135,009 for both the police and fire chief and $112,695 for the public works director.
Town rules require an annual review of a wage chart for directors and other positions. However, the recent memo to the council from Kehoe and Clarke says the council has not reviewed the wages or made adjustments “for many years.”
“Since that time, several directors’ salaries have been set at amounts exceeding those established on the outdated wage chart,” Kehoe and Clarke wrote.
However, “the f act that the council had not reviewed the pay grid in several years,” Kehoe said, “does not provide a green light for the administration to pay a director a salary higher than allowed under the current pay grid.”
Clarke said she learned in June that the three department heads’ salaries were far above allowed amounts. She said she immediately sought a special meeting to bring the issue to the council’s audits and investigations subcommittee.
Leclerc said council members have known since 2011, and are reminded every budget season, “that the salaries they see are the current salaries and not reflective of proposed salaries.” Each year, Leclerc said, the council has provided $12,000, plus any funds she could muster without affecting taxpayers, to put toward directors’ raises.
Her focus has been on retaining quality people, Leclerc said.
“We have been extremely fortunate to have a great dedicated team of professionals serving the town,” she said. “However, given the degree to which the demands of their jobs and the extra time worked that has been required with weather events and community response and demands the increased salaries still do not compensate for the pressure, work and time devoted by directors.”
Citing potential problems with providing compensation “above legally established” amounts and that “numerous provisions of the town’s personnel rules ... have been extended inappropriately,” Kehoe and Clarke recommended a joint review by the council’s personnel and pensions and investigations and audit subcommittees. The council approved the referral Oct. 6. Also, a consultant has been reviewing compensation levels for department heads and other employees, comparing East Hartford’s compensation with other towns.
It’s possible, Kehoe said, that the council may reduce compensation for somepositions after the subcommittees make their recommendations. But he said that “the council is sensitive that we’re talking about people’s livelihoods” and members want to ensure East Hartford’s compensation is competitive with other towns.
Clarke, the council minority leader, said the issues are plain: “The mayor gave three big increases to three directors without the council approval ... and the increases in personnel regs. need funding by the council.
“There is no doubt,” Clarke said, “that before (Leclerc) redacted the pay continuation that she had given herself, there was outrage, but she removed it in September, hopefully not to add it back.”
Morrison said making changes that give the council proper oversight is the way to move forward.
“We’re not going to go out there and bang our fists on the desks; it doesn’t get us anywhere,” he said.
Leclerc said she welcomes a thorough review of procedure and practice.
“This is a great opportunity before us,” she said, “to correct the procedures and to work cooperatively to ensure the best employees are hired for director positions with fair wages, benefits and security.”