The Tama County Board of Supervisors are attempting to enter a contract with the Human Resource director, Tammy Wise. At their latest meeting, there was a vague item under HR. This brought several questions from the chairman, Mr. Hilmer, as he had not had time to review the contract and had many questions. A few details that were discussed about the contract was that the severance pay would be in excess of $200,000 if Tammy is terminated without cause within the first 12 months of the contract. That is a lot of money to be paying out for the county.

Another detail from the contract that was shared was that the contract would extend for five years. During the meeting, Tammy said, “Well I plan to retire in just two years.” So what is the need for the five year contract? Why now with less than two weeks before a totally new board is going to take their seats.

From what I gather, Tammy is trying to protect her own employment because the new Board has made clear that there arre going to be changes made.

Meanwhile, in the Tama County Employee Handbook, there are no protections for any other employees.

On page seven, it says:

AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT

Tama County is an “at will” employer and Tama County employees are “at will” employees. That means that as a Tama County employee, your employment is voluntarily entered into and you are free to resign at any time for any reason. Tama County is also free to end its employment relationship with you at any time for any reason but a prohibited reason. While it is hoped that your employment with Tama County is long and mutually beneficial, neither you nor Tama County has entered into any contract of employment, either stated or implied. The employment relationship between you and Tama County is and will always be one of voluntary employment at-will.

Then again on page 17, it is clear:

At-Will Employees Employment with Tama County is voluntary. This mens it is for an indefinite time and is terminable at any time, with or without cause shown by the Employer, or at completion of a special grant or project. An exception to this provision requires the existence of a written contract between the employee and the County, 18 signed by a designee of the Board of Supervisors. Nothing in these policies adopted by the Board of Supervisors shall in any way be construed as creating an employment contract, either express or implied.

The two supervisors who will not be on bord in two weeks, are ramming this through to bind it on the new board. There are no protections for other county employees, just Tammy Wise.

Some legal questions should be considered:

If entering into a contract spending new county dollars, does the BOS have to have a public hearing?

If creating a new contract for this position, isn’t it illegal to offer it to a current employee without posting it fo other applicants to have an equal opportunity to apply?

There are many other considerations to learn about. Bill Faircloth and Dan Anderson cannot wait to bind this disaster on Tama County taxpayers on their way out the door.

I hope that they are able to see this is not an honorable way to leave their legacy.

Contact them today and tell them to vote no on this contact!

The vote for more Tammy money is scheduled for the Board of Supervisor Tama County regular meeting on Dec. 23.

Karen Murty

Toledo, Iowa