Ex-John Day city manager’s consulting contract holds up to scrutiny

Published 6:15 am Wednesday, July 27, 2022

JOHN DAY — When Nick Green resigned last month as John Day’s city manager and took on a high-paid consulting role for the city, some observers cried foul. But an investigation by the Blue Mountain Eagle found no evidence of wrongdoing.

As reported earlier, Green officially resigned from the position of city manager during the June 14 session of the John Day City Council. At the same meeting, the council voted to bring Green on as a consultant for the city.

Green is slated to make no less than $150,00 a year as a consultant with the possibility of earning up to $200,000 if additional service are required. Green’s compensation as city manager was just over $107,000 yearly, including benefits.

Green’s duties will include strategic financial planning, capital asset management, master planning, code implementation and contract administration.

Additional services provided by Green would likely come in the form of grant writing. An amended services agreement between Green and the city states that Green will not perform any additional services unless the City Council provides Green with a written request.

Is it legal?

While the timing might seem abrupt in this case, transitioning from a role as city manager into a role as a consultant for the same entity is a common occurrence.

But is it legal?

The short answer is yes, the transition is legal. Jack Orchard is a Portland-based attorney who advises newspapers within the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association about legal issues. According to Orchard, there is nothing illegal about the hire.

Is it ethical?

The question of whether Green’s hire as a consultant for the city is ethical isn’t as clear-cut as simply citing Oregon revised statutes. ORS 244.40 states that “a public official may not use or attempt to use their official position to obtain financial gain or avoidance of financial detriment … if the financial gain or avoidance of financial detriment would not otherwise be available but for the public official’s holding of the official position or office.”

Green created his consulting company, Catalyst Public Policy Advisors, at the end of March, prior to his official resignation as city manager.

However, by that time Green had already announced plans to step down. At the Jan. 25 meeting of the John Day City Council, Green said he intended to resign as city manager by the end of June, citing long hours and job-related stress, including verbal attacks on himself and his family by critics of his work for the city.

In public meetings over the following weeks, several city councilors expressed a desire for Green to continue working for the city in some capacity.

Some councilors raised concerns that the various projects started during Green’s six-year tenure as city manager would either stall or fail outright without his involvement.

Is Green overpaid?

A concern voiced by critics of the move is the cost of the consulting contract. Green is slated to make $150,000 a year in base pay, plus $225 an hour for services that are outside the scope of his duties as the city’s consultant. Green’s pay is capped at no more than $200,000 a year.

While those figures might seem high to some, they are within the range of compensation for urban planning consultants.

Glassdoor.com lists urban consultant pay as ranging between $49,000 a year at the low end to $467,000 a year at the high end. Glassdoor also lists $66,000 a year to $206,000 a year as the most likely range of pay for urban planning consultants. The median pay for the position is $104,149 a year.