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2010100401 Town Attorney AgreementoWN of ~ ~~'. ~i pop _oa COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT DATE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 MEETING DATE: 10/4/2010 ITEM NO: f TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL FROM: MICHAEL D. MARTELLO, INTERIM TOWN ATTORNEY SUBJECT: EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT FOR TOWN ATTORNEY RECOMMENDATION: Approve the employment agreement for Judith J. Propp for appointrnent to Town Attorney. DISCUSSION: In accordance with the Town's municipal code, the Town Attorney is appointed by the Town Council, and the terms and conditions of employment have historically been set forth in an employment agreement beriveen the appointee and Town. The employment agreement is established at the time of appointment and updated periodically on an as-needed basis. In Jamtary 2010, the prior Town Attorney, Orry Korb, resigned to accept a position with another employer. Since that time the position has been filled on an interim basis, pending the outcome of the recruitment for the position. The recruitment process is now complete, and Judith J. Propp has been selected from a pool of highly qualified candidates for the position. The attached employment agreement sets forth the terms and conditions of Ms. Propp's appointment to the position. Under the proposed agreement, Judith J. Propp commences her employment as Town Attorney on November 8, 2010. The proposed amoral base salary is $179,000. The employment agreement, which was based on the agreement with our prior town attorney, is attached. FISCAL IMPACT: Sufficient funds to implement the agreement are included in the operating budget for 2010-1 1 and wit l be included in the budget for futtu•e years. Attaclunent: 1) Employment Agreement between the Town of Los Gatos and Town Attorney PREPARED BY: MICHAEL D. MARTELLO, iNTERINI TOWN AT"fORNEY C:\Users\nn~akhuria\Desktop\Longme,idow\Town Council Stnff ReporLdoc Reviewed by: ,.„Town Mvtager ' "~ _ Assistant `l'awn Ntanager Cleric Administrator Finance Community Development TFIIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK TOWN ATTORNEY AGREEMENT TH[S AGRIiE~IENT is entered into this 4th day of October 2010, by and between the TO\\-TI OF LOS GATOS ("Town") and Judith J. Propp ("Attorney"). RECITALS A. Town desires to employ Attorney as Tovvn Attorney to fulfill the duties set forth in Section 2.30.50 of the "fown Code of Los Gatos. B. Attorney desires to render legal services to Tovwl as iG "Gown t\ttorney. AGREENIPNT [n consideration of the foregoing recitals, and their respective promises herein, the "fown and Attorney agree as follows: L Appointment. Town appoints Attorney and Attorney agrees to serve as Tovvn Attorney. Attorney agrees to devote herself full time to the performance of the duties of Tovvn Attorney, unless otherwise authorized in writing by the Town Council. 2. Scope of Services. Legal services shall include preparation and review of ordinances, resolutions, agreements, and contracts; legal research; attendance at Tovvn Council meetings and attendance at other meetings upon request; rendering of legal opinions to the Town Council and Town N[anager; representation of the Tov~m, members of the Town Council and other "Gown oflicers and employees in claims and litigation filed by or against the Town, except those that the Town Attorney or Town Council determine should be handled by outside counsel and such other legal services as may be directed by Town Council or Town Ntanager. Consistent with other demands of her office, Attorney will use her best efforts to handle general municipal and land use litigation herself to reduce costs of outside counsel. 3. Term. This Agreement shall commence Ulovember 3; 2010 and extend indefiniteh= until terminated as provided hereinafter. 4. Compensation. Attorney shall receive the following compensation: a. Salary. Annual base salary shall be $179,000. The Tovvn Council shall review the base salar}+ six (6) months after executing this Agreement and at least annually thereafter as part of the Performance revie~-v process [see paragraph 4(d)]. b. Furlouuhs. Attorney will be subject to take time ot-t without pay for Town-approved Furlough days. 1 ATTACHMENT 1 c. Holida~~ Closure. t\ttorneV will be subject to dacs off ~cithout pay during holidati closures; ho«e~ er she may use lease balances to avoid loss of compensation during said closures. d. Perlormance Review. The l own Council shall evaluate Attorney's performance annually and may adjust the base salary or provide a one-time, lump sum payment of up to three percent (3%) o~' some combination of both at the sole discretion of Council, based upon its assessment of Attorney's performance. e. Retirement f\ttorney shall participate in the Down's 2S° o at ~~ (CALPGRS) retirement plan and Attorney shall contribute the 8°ro employee contributions. Attorney shall be entitled to participate in Tovvn's Retiree NCedical Program as made available to other Managers. Sid< leave conversion per post 2004 retiree program shall also be available. G Leave and Benefits. Except as provided in this section, Town shall provide Attorney with health coverage, life and disability insurance and other benefits consistent with the Town's Management Benefit Ylan. i. Health Insurance - Town shall contribute to Attorney`s health insurance up to the cost of the Kaiser Family Plan. ii. Sick Leave -Attorney will accrue 12 days per year. Sis (6) days (or six months of this benefit) will be accrued ~md credited to Attorney upon arrival with the normal accrual resuming on N[ay 1, 201 1. iii. Vacation Leave -five (~) days credited to attorney upon arrival; regular accrual of three (3) weeks per year commences .Iamiary I, 2011. iv. Administrative Leave -six (6) hours credited upon arrival with 40 hours annual leave credited at the beginning of each calendar year thereafter. c. Personal leave -'six (6) hours credited upon arrival with 40 how's credited at the beginning oCeach calendar year thaeatlcr. vi. Deferred Compensation -Mown shall deposit $300 per month into the deferred compensation Fund made available by ~fovvn and designated by Attorney. g. ,lob Related Expenses. The -Town shall reimburse Attorney for costs of membership in the State Bar of California and for the reasonable costs of mandatory continuing legal education sponsored be the League of California Cities including u'ansportalion. food. lodging. tuitiun. and printed materials. A4~ithin budget limitations, the 1'o~~n shall reimburse :Atturnev for costs ofadditional professional education and membership and attendance at meetings of professional croups such as the State Bar of California. Santa Clara Counts Bar Z Association, the League of California Cities (Attorney's Depat'tment), the Bay Area City Attorney's Association, and Santa Clara County City Attorney's Association or other relevant municipal law h•ainine. Attorney shall. be reimbursed for any other sums reasonably related to the performance of her duties, subject to obtaining prior approval from the Town y(anager and the iv'layor. ~. Termination. This Agreement may be terminated in the following manner: a. By attorney giving Town sixty (60) days written notice; b. By majority vote of Che Tovvu Council; or c. At any time by other method agreed upon by both parties in writing. In the event of termination by majority Grote of the Town Council for reasons other than her commission of a crime of moral hupitude or a violation of statute or taw constituting misconduct in office or her disbarment from the practice of law, Town Council will give Attorney thirty (30) days written notice and Attorney shall be paid six (6) months compensation as severance in years one through four of her employment with Town and three (3 j months compensation as severance commencing in year five of her employment with Town. Compensation for the purpose of calculating severance shall be attorney's base compensation as may be adjusted fi-om time to time. Attorney shall be paid for accrued vacation leave, holidays, and other benePrts accrued at the time of the cessation of her duties, as part of any termination or retirement 6. Defense and Indepmity. Town agrees to defend, hold hornless, and indemnify Attorney against any tort, professional liability claim or demand, or other legal action, whether Groundless or otherwise, arising out of an alleged act or omission occurring in the performance of Attorney's duties. Town, at its discretion, is not requited to indemnify Attorney for any illegal acts committed by Attorney.) 7. General Provision. a. Amendment From time to time by mutual agreement, the "fovvn Council and Attorney may amend this Agreement or fix other terms and conditions of Attonley's employment. either by written addendum attached hereto or by resolution, provided that such amendments are not inconsistent with the provisions of this :\greement, the Town Code, or any other law. b. Application of General Rules. A-s to any platter not expressly covered in this Agreement, r\ttorney shall be subject to the same rules and policies as any other management employee of the Towm. c. [menration. This Agreement is the entire agreement between the parties, eecept for amendments as provided herein. d. tiotices. ~iotices shall be ~i~en b~ first class mail addressed as follows: 3 l o~cn \da}'or. "Gown of Los Gatos Civic Center P.O. E3ox 9-t9 Los Gatos, C~\ 9031 Allornec .Iudith J. Prupp N.O. F3ox I 11322 Campbell CA 901 I '~;otice shall be deemed given as of the date of personal service or as ol~ the date of deposit in first class mail. IN ~-ITV6SS bV'HLRF,OP, the Parties have executed this Agreemeol on the dale written above. ATTORtiE1' Judith J. Yropp T04W OF LOS GA I OS Diane McNutt, Iv(ayor r\Pl'ROVLD r\S "CO FORV'(: Michael D. Martetlo, [nterim Town i\ttorney 4