Royal Oak finalizes city manager separation agreement

Royal Oak pays $135,950 to former metropolis supervisor Joseph Gacioch after metropolis commissioners authorised a separation settlement. Town and Gacioch agreed to not prosecute one another as part of the agreement.

In December, metropolis commissioners unanimously fired Gacioch and appointed an interim metropolis supervisor and a deputy metropolis supervisor.

The commissioners didn’t focus on the choice through the assembly or present a purpose.

Gacioch, the town’s fifth supervisor in 5 years, was employed unanimously in October 2024 after a seven-month search. He took care of the each day actions of the town.

His expertise contains 13 years as Ferndale metropolis supervisor.

“Now that the separation settlement has been authorised, I need to be respectful of the method and the people concerned,” Gacioch informed The Oakland Press on Thursday. “I’m happy with the progress our group has made throughout my time with the Metropolis of Royal Oak and grateful for the chance to serve the neighborhood.

Gacioch praised residents and entrepreneurs as individuals who care deeply in regards to the metropolis and wished the town and its workers future success.

“I can’t touch upon inside personnel issues or the circumstances surrounding the committee’s determination,” he stated.

Gacioch’s contract included an annual base wage of $196,100 and advantages together with a automobile allowance of $650 per thirty days. Underneath the settlement, if Gacioch was fired for something different than simply trigger, the town would pay him 9 months of his wage, which totaled $151,487. However as a part of the settlement, the town deducted Gacioch’s December wage, $15,537, from the whole. His settlement test is for $135,950.

In December, metropolis commissioners appointed Metropolis Legal professional Niccolas Grochowski as interim metropolis supervisor and Police Chief Michael Moore as interim deputy metropolis supervisor, to work alongside present deputy metropolis supervisor Susan Barkman.

It’s unclear whether or not any of the three obtained will increase from their final identified charges, reported in 2024 by opengovpay.com: $178,229 for Grochowski; $174,746 for Moore and $105,864 for Barkman.

The committee agreed to rent Rochester-based search agency Vettraino Consulting for $29,500. That settlement states that the payment will cowl a one-year search, however the firm will proceed to function with out additional compensation if no candidate is discovered inside 12 months.

Royal Oak resident Nancy Sumner used public remark time throughout Monday’s assembly to query the fee’s determination, asking whether or not Gacioch was fired for trigger or whether or not he “knew one thing that was not in line with the imaginative and prescient of the council and the mayor.”

“Does he know one thing that you don’t need the folks of the city of Royal Oak to know?” she stated, including that she needed to know why he was let go.

The board authorised it the divorce agreement as a part of the consent agenda, an extended record of matters not mentioned through the assembly.

Gacioch shared different ideas in a LinkedIn submit on Tuesday, thanking colleagues and associates for his or her assist in current weeks.

He additionally shared his guiding ideas on management, which he stated had been impressed by the late US Military Normal Colin Powell, a former US Secretary of State:

• Anybody generally is a chief.

• By no means ignore an issue.

• Keep calm. Be variety.

• Have a imaginative and prescient, be demanding.

• It is not as unhealthy as you suppose. It is going to look higher tomorrow morning.

• Be liable for the issues you’ll be able to management and concentrate on the issues you do not.

• What acquired you right here will not get you there, which he stated was his favourite.

Gacioch’s future plans embrace time to “replicate, recharge and deal with what comes subsequent,” he wrote, including: “I stay deeply captivated with public service, organizational management, tradition constructing and serving to communities and groups thrive.”