Conroe City Council voted March 12 to end the executive employment contracts of city administration and approved related payments totaling $1.85 million.
Mayor Duke Coon said ending the contracts would stop future increases tied to those agreements and leave the city with only one contracted employee. The terminated contracts are tied to City Administrator Gary Scott; Nancy Mikeska, deputy city administrator and director of community development; Norman McGuire, assistant city administrator and public works director; and Human Resources Director Andre Houser.
What happened
Council first accepted Mike Garner’s resignation as city attorney and McGuire’s retirement, which will take effect March 27.
As council discussed the item, Mayor Pro Tem Howard Wood asked what the vote would mean without a final dollar figure presented that night. Coon said the agreements would convert the employees to at-will status once approved, and that payout records would be subject to public information requests.
Coon also said the payments would be made through the city’s general fund.
Council member Harry Hardman said the action gave the city “an opportunity for us to just clean this” up and said future councils would not be “burdened” by older grandfathered contracts.
By the numbers
A March 16 city human resources document shows the council-approved payouts total about $1.85 million.
Per the document, payments include:
- $644,834.60 for Scott
- $524,699.82 for Mikeska
- $477,001.26 for McGuire
- $201,287.88 for Houser
The same document states Scott, Mikeska and Houser became at-will employees after March 12, while McGuire will retire March 27. The document also states Scott will be “deemed immediately eligible for insurance benefits in compliance with the Rule of 80.”
