In the contract entered into on May 30, 2017 between the Town of Oro Valley and Ms. Jacobs, the contract stated, “The term of this agreement shall be for a period of two (2) years.”
Ms. Jacobs’ initial salary was $160,000 per year. However, just 15 months later, on September 5, 2018, her salary was increased to $180,000 per year. This was almost nine months before the 2-year contract was to expire or be renewed.
In addition, the Town paid for her moving expenses, up to $5,000. The Town also pays for the following:
• a deferred compensation payment into a 457 retirement account of $5,000 per year.
(Increased to $10,000 per year on September 5, 2018)
• 80 hours of vacation pay -- the equivalent of 10 days’ vacation.
(Increased to 27 vacation days per year, or 5.5 weeks of vacation, as of September 5, 2018)
• health, vision, dental, and disability insurance
• up to $90.00 per month to help defer costs associated with technological use and requirements for Town purposes (cell phone?)
All of this was given to an individual who had no Town Manager experience and had served as an Assistant Town Manager in Sierra Vista for 17 years. Do you know anyone who has ever gone from 2 weeks of vacation to 5.5 weeks of vacation after barely a year and a half on the job? Do you know anyone who received a $20,000 salary increase after just 15 months on the job?
This extremely well-compensated individual with no municipal golf experience relies on Troon for numbers. This is after Troon had shown that their forecast for the previous 5 years has been off by $9 million.
Ms. Jacobs also supported the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) that supported eliminating citizen participation in business and commercial development in order to accelerate the review and permitting process. CEDS removes Neighborhood Meetings and Planning and Zoning Public Hearings from the process, eliminating the citizens’ voice.
Jacobs has no concept of why Oro Valley incorporated, which was to include the citizens in the decision-making process. We did not want to be like Tucson or Pima County.
With all the money and benefits budgeted for a Town Manager, we deserve better.
You can view the 2017 contract and the 2018 amended contract below. The information provided in this article can be found in Sections 2, 7, and 9. The amended agreement can be found on Page 9.
You can view the town's contract with Ms. Jacobs here.
---
Editor’s Note: CEDS was approved by a 7-0 vote at the September 18, 2019 council meeting.
