St. Croix County approves administrator’s new contract

Talk about it

The road to resolution of a new four-year contract for St. Croix County Administrator Pat Thompson was anything but swift at the Board of Supervisors’ regular meeting Tuesday morning.

After tidying up all other business within two hours, the board went into closed session for more than two hours to hash out the details of deal. Thompson was present at the session upon the urging of Board Chair Daryl Standafer.

The resolution passed on a 9-5 vote with a reduced number of supervisors present at the bitter end. Fred Yoerg, Ron Kiesler and Joe Hurtgen were absent from the meeting all together; Brian Hurtgen and Andy Brinkman left before the closed session ended after 1 p.m.

Agnes Ring, Tim Hood, Standafer, Buck Malick, Kris Kilber, Richard Ottino, Tom Hawksford, David Peterson and Duane Russett cast votes in favor. Travis Schachtner, Dave Ostness, Roger Larson, Fred Horne and William Peavey voted against.

Two amendments were offered up before the final vote. Both dealt with a retention incentive designed to keep Thompson on board through the term of the contract. The first amendment died on a 7-7 vote, the second passed 12-2.

The proposed contract is for four years through June 30, 2017, to replace the current two-year contract that expires June 30. The contract included an annual base salary of $160,000 with a $400 per month transportation allowance. Thompson was also eligible for pay for performance incentive compensation each year comparable to department heads.

Thompson was hired in June 2011 on a two-year contract for a base salary of $135,000 with bonus incentives each year.

For the complete story, see this week's New Richmond News.

Tags: local government, st croix county, news, wisconsin