Larry Shaffer (far left) gets thumbs down from Jackson, Michigan City Council
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So it will come as little surprise to those in Amherst who were paying attention during the short reign of Town Mangler Larry Shaffer that he has once again suddenly decided to retire in the middle of his contract, taking with him--after only a year of service--a cushy $64,000 in taxpayer monies, almost exactly the same amount he absconded with from Amherst as he suddenly "took stock" of his life and decided to retire...at least until he found another job.
One of the weaknesses of the Mass Public Documents Law is exempting employee performance evaluations from exposure. When Shaffer and the Amherst Select Board hatched his $62,000 severance package they did so under the cloak of an "executive session" and even refused to take proper notes during that hour-and-twenty-minute closed door pow wow, summing up the entire meeting in just two sentences and redacting one of the two when responding to my request for the meeting minutes.
And now, two years later, the Jackson City Council has given Larry Shaffer a $64,000 going away present after meeting in a brief executive session. Furthermore the severance package contains a mutual "non disparage" clause to forever gag those public officials.
At the very least Larry Shaffer's two recent fiascos will be forever available via the web as a warning to the next community. After all, a little transparency now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. (Note to readers: last line, borrowed from Thomas Jefferson, is sarcasm.)
"At the very least Larry Shaffer's two recent fiascos will be forever available via the web as a warning to the next community."
ReplyDeleteGot links? I'd like to read them.
What a disappointment he has turned out to be.
ReplyDeleteMust have found a new girlfriend and been offered a tidy little severence package for another round retirement LOL! What a piece of work that guy is!!!
ReplyDeleteSo, I wonder where is off to now. You would think an attorney general would be interested in this type of pattern.
ReplyDeleteWhere have we seen this recipe before?
ReplyDeleteTake one rapidly aging fifty, now sixty-something American male.
Put him in a high-profile, but ultimately mundanely bureaucratic public sector job.
Add an exciting acquaintance with a significantly younger American female, who has some zest for life and who gives our American gray eminence something more than a "how do you do?"
Then watch our aging American male dump the wife and follow the much younger female all over creation, and embarass himself in a number of ways, all in the guise of "finding himself".
This time, however, THIS process of adolescent self-discovery is being financed heavily by two sets of taxpayers.
Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us.
I try to avoid the snake pit of Amherst politics, but just for the record I never liked that guy. Some sleazoid politicians put off a certain vibe and he had it. In fact, a number of Amherst political figures do. Keep up your good work Larry!
ReplyDeleteyeah Tommy, I remember the 250th meeting he attended, we did a site visit and he was spouting how we need to do an analysis. I did the analysis assessment synthesis.... that's how you get a design. then he was the gatekeeper and refused to pay me for all the hours the town engaged me in. corrupt self-serving scumbag that's Harry shafte for you.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many good employees he screwed over in Jackson.
ReplyDeleteHey Amherst, remember them?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.news-press.com/article/A4/20120704/OPINION/307040017/Editorial-Public-records-essential
http://www.gmrsd.org/index.php/district-departments/office-of-the-superintendent
Now scurry along, little roaches...
Unfortunately, what starts out as an opportunity to serve the public becomes eventually an entitlement to be managed for personal gain.
ReplyDeleteThis is what creates the cynicism.
One would expect that the severance pay would be measured and limited by the amount of time served in a place. Apparently not. Now the question is: is there still another municipality somewhere in the US that can be suckered by this fickle "public servant?"
How do people like him do it? Rumor has it that Holub has a new gig too.
ReplyDeleteAt what point do we start asking WHY are we paying for this????
It almost is too bad that we can't pay town officials in stock, like corporate CEOs are -- and if they do good, they make money, if they don't, well...
did he do the same thing before amherst got suckered?
ReplyDeleteHey Ponziville,
ReplyDeleteI guess the anti-depressants didn't work, eh. Maybe you should find a gym to work out in. Kelley seems to have some ideas about that, even though his gym is long since faded away.
He does know karate, though, so maybe he can teach you some moves, and then you can come into Amherst and hit some signs or something.
Hate to see someone go through life hating on such a little, meaningless place in the American suburbs. Seems like a lot of energy expended for what?
Chin up, Ponziville.
p.s. Is that French Canadian?
So will Larry, Laurence, or now Lawrence, Shaffer be able to figure out another scheme for a severance package if lands a new position as an interim city manager? And does he manage to shed the posts from his Amherst past with his slight first name variation? ...probably no one cares anymore, but should someone warn folks in Portage, MI ?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/04/former_jackson_city_manager_le.html