Beavercreek council members said they are trying to retain high-level experienced leaders for the next few years.
The council’s decision to explore options for extending Cornell’s contract follows a majority vote by members last week to allow Cornell to exercise an option in his contract to retire at the end of this month and be rehired by the city through 2015.
“I’m very appreciative of the continued significant support received from Beavercreek City Council and our community,” Cornell said in a written statement.
Cornell, who was held his position since 2007 and annually earns $140,062.15, oversees the city’s $33.8 million budget and 134 employees.
His three-year contract, which was signed in February 2013, includes an option that will allow him to retire from his position and be rehired effective January 2015.
“That was known at that point, at the time that contract was entered into, that this (Cornell’s retirement) was a real possibility,” said Stephen McHugh, the city attorney, during a public hearing Monday night on Cornell’s contract.
During the hearing, Beavercreek City Councilwoman Vicki Giambrone said the decision to allow Cornell to rehire and immediately be rehired had nothing to do with anything related to the city.
“It has to do with the state’s retirement process,” she said. “There is a potential penalty to the city manager if he doesn’t retire by a certain time.”
There were no comments during the public comment portion of the hearing.
One of the advantages of retaining Cornell for the next two years is he would still be employed by the city during the police department’s CALEA law enforcement accreditation, said Beavercreek City Mayor Brian Jarvis during an interview.
“We really would not like to have a lot of changes immediately prior to that,” he said.
In October, Beavercreek Police Chief Dennis Evers notified the city of his plans to retire in January 2015 citing the need to give his successor more time to prepare for the CALEA accreditation.
Cornell will not receive any additional compensation as a result of the city rehiring him, Jarvis said.
“It doesn’t cost us any more money to keep him here,” he said.
Ohio City/County Management Association President Mike Lucking said there are a number of city managers in the area who have retired and been rehired by the same municipality, but he is unsure whether that is something commonly included in a city manager’s contract.
“The reason that happens is to make sure there’s continuity,” said Lucking who is also the Trotwood city manager. “City manager jobs are very unique jobs. You have to be knowledgeable about a broad array of topics when it comes to running a city. I think the reason is to maintain continuity and keep the experienced people operating cities particularly in a profession where there’s not a lot of young people coming into the profession.
Lucking said retire-rehire options for city managers will probably grow in the future as more city managers become eligible for retirement.
“Our profession as a whole is aging, so it’s probably going to be a trend that becomes a little more common place as we go forward,” he said.
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