Buss: I want to thank the citizens and staff for having faith in me

With a 4-3 city council vote Thursday evening, former Assistant City Manager Rick Buss walks away with a severance package that will pay him a salary and health benefits for the next six months.

The severance package (click on severance package to view document) runs from Aug. 10 through Feb. 10, 2008. Buss accumulated just over 135 hours of vacation time and nearly 125 hours of sick leave. As part of the severance agreement, Mayor Kelly Anderson, Vice-Mayor Brent Murphree and Councilman Edward Farrell will provide Buss with separate letters of recommendation.

Council met in a special session to act on a severance and release agreement with Buss, who had been placed on administrative leave late last week.

Anderson, Murphree, Farrell and Councilman Steve Baker voted in favor of the deal. Councilmen Joseph Estes, Kelly Haddad and Will Dunn cast no votes.

“We saw a good mixture of thinking,” Anderson said afterwards. “This is huge for us in moving forward as a city. We will have a new person in as city manager and have a clean slate. I think we have a lot to offer whoever that new person is.”

Anderson complimented Buss’s performance as city manager since 2004, saying he thought the job he did “was monumental.” According to Anderson, “A lot of the processes that we have today are things he put in place.”

Asked if he was sorry to see Buss go, Anderson said it was tough for him to see Buss depart, but added, “There is a time to move on.”

According to Buss, this end to his relationship with Maricopa allows him and his family the chance to move on to other opportunities. He added, though, he sees good things ahead for the city.

“This is a city with so much promise,” Buss said. “I can’t encourage the citizens enough to get involved. I went into the public sector to serve others and I have never forgotten who my bosses are and that’s the citizens. I want to thank the citizens and staff for having faith in me.”

Buss said his advice for the next city manager is to focus on the people, unity, and diversity of opinion.

Asked how allegations of misconduct have impacted him and his children, Buss said he would rather keep his children out of the discussion. “It has been a difficult situation when people are saying things about you that are not true.”

Buss added that he was not dismayed that three councilmen voted against approval for the severance package.

“There were some philosophical differences,” Buss noted.

Photo by Dave Thomas