Since he took office in January 2011, Mayor Ashton Hayward has had four city administrators. Bill Reynolds started work in August 2011. Colleen Castille replaced Reynolds in July 2013. From August 2014-March 2015, Dick Barker served as an interim. Then Eric Olson was named city administrator on March 30, 2015.
Reynolds’ contract had several perks. Taxpayers reimbursed him up to $16,000 for moving expenses. He was immediately credited with 500 hours of PTO (value $31,250). He was given a monthly car allowance of $500. If Mayor Hayward terminated his contract without cause, his severance package was 20 weeks (value $50,000). Unfortunately, Reynolds was dismissed for cause and lost his PTO and severance, according to his personnel folder. See REDACTED_-_PR-Reynolds_Personnel_File.
Castille, who lived in Tallahassee, was only reimbursed up to $2,500 for moving expenses. She was not credited any PTO hours prior to starting work. Her monthly car allowance was also $500. She had the same severance clause as Reynolds. However, she could only get severance if the mayor terminated her contract after she had served as city administrator for one year. See REDACTED_-_PR-Castille_Personnel_File
Castille announced her resignation in mid-August. Dick Barker was immediately made interim administrator, and Eric Olson and Tamara Fountain were promoted to assistant city administrator and chief operations officer respectively. Though she left city hall on Aug. 14, Mayor Hayward allowed her to stay on city payroll until Sept. 3, 2014 so the taxpayers would have to pay her $50,000 severance – her employment started 9/3/13. While her General Release agreement has a clause titled “Resignation,” it’s clear Mayor Hayward terminated her contract: “The employment relationship between EMPLOYEE and EMPLOYER is terminated by EMPLOYER effective September 3, 2014.” It wasn’t a resignation.
Olson got no perks, not even a monthly car allowance. However, he is paid $3,016 more than his predecessors. He has the same severance clause as Reynolds and Castille.
Note: City administrator contracts aren’t approved by the Pensacola City Council. Mayor Hayward is the decision maker.