During a meeting June 19, the Camp Verde Town Council voted to approve a five-year contract for Town Manager Russ Martin, and he will hold his position through 2023.
Though Martin has been working with the Town of Camp Verde for nearly eight years, this will be the first time that he will be under contract for an extended period of time.
Martin said he wanted to seek a long-term contract as his daughter is now entering her first year at Camp Verde High School.
“The contract is five years because my daughter starts her freshman year this next year,” Martin said. “Four or five years she’ll be graduating from school. I want to see her graduate from Camp Verde.”
The Town Council expressed hope that Martin would use the long-term contract in order to seek further professional training, which would allow him to execute his duties more effectively.
During the meeting, several community members voiced concern that a five-year contract would tie up the town’s hands for a long period of time.
Former judge and Camp Verde Town Council candidate Joe Butner voiced concern over the part of the contract which addresses the town’s options in terminating Martin if need be.
Butner noted provisions to the contract, which would allow the town manager to quit at any time for any reason with 60 days’ notice, but requires the town to pay severance for six months even when terminating for cause.
Martin said the provisions are true without a contract and that none of these provisions would change his commitment to the position.
“I’m not going to just stop doing my job because I now have this contract and I don’t have to do my work,” Martin said.
Butner also noted that a five-year contract could be a conflict with future Town Council members.
“Because it is written for five years, it binds three town councils,” Butner said. “This one, the next one that’s elected and then the next one after that.”
Camp Verde Town Council candidate Carol German expressed a similar sentiment.
“The council should not obligate future councils by including future performance bonuses when it will be new councils responsible for doing performance reviews,” German said.
The council approved Martin’s fiveyear contract by a 5-1 vote; council member Robin Whatley was absent.
Council member and mayoral candidate Jackie Baker was the lone no vote.
Baker expressed opposition to approving the contract as the Town Council has not yet discussed Martin’s performance in relation to the Arizona Department of Public Safety report on former Marshal Nancy Gardner. According to some cited officers in the report, they did not feel comfortable going to Martin with complaints about Gardner about problems in the Marshal’s office due to Martin’s perceived positive relationship with Gardner. According to the report, Martin was visibly saddened when he was told by investigators that officers did not feel comfortable filing formal grievances with Martin about Gardner and has since reiterated to staff that he takes such complaints seriously.
The contract approved Martin’s base salary at $127,000 per year with cost of living adjustments, as well training bonuses to be allocated later.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
