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Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | 12:03 a.m.
Mary Kay Peck
The Henderson City Council fired City Manager Mary Kay Peck on Tuesday, saying she mismanaged the budget and created a “culture of fear” among city staff. The council appointed Assistant City Manager Mark Calhoun as interim city manager until a contract could be completed installing him fully in the position.
The city owes Peck $116,552 for accumulated vacation time and a portion of sick leave.
Peck did not comment during or after the meeting, but her attorney, Norman Kirshman, said he would take her case to an arbitrator to determine her compensation. Peck was 18 months into a three-year contract. She received an annual salary of $225,000.
After remaining silent on the reason Peck was asked by city officials to take a 30-day leave on March 17, council members spent more than an hour listing grievances that city employees apparently had told them, as well as their own reasons why she should be “terminated with cause.”
One reason: Council members and Mayor Jim Gibson said Peck had failed to provide them with the full scale of the city’s budget shortfall.
After already cutting about $53 million from the current fiscal year budget ending June 30, city officials reported at the meeting that they need to trim an additional $7.4 million because of a shortage in franchise fees.
“Now, when we have pretty much played our hand, we find that there is nearly $7.5 million we had no clue about and that comes because of our inattention to an important revenue stream,” Gibson said.
When the city went into a financial crises mode in November, the council asked Peck to provide it with monthly reports on actions that could be taken to balance the budget.
Not only did Peck not provide the accurate information on the budget but she also allegedly threatened employees not to talk to the council about it, Gibson said.
“In my estimation, that’s a breach of the manager’s responsibility to the elected officials,” he said.
Councilwoman Gerri Schroder said the decision was not personal but was a business decision for the city.
“I feel that information was intentionally kept from us and I believe that the conduct to the staff prevented the staff from informing us of vital information that has led us to this point in our financial budget,” she said.
Peck has worked for the city for 14 years, previously as an assistant city manager and planning manager.
“I really felt up until recently that we had a very good employee that had been placed in the wrong job,” Councilman Jack Clark said. “The job was just too much.”
Clark said former employees came to him saying they quit because they didn’t want to wait to be fired by Peck, which created a “culture of fear.”
“We simply cannot have a culture in our city where people are afraid,” he said.
Each council member echoed Clark’s allegations but did not identify the employees that lodged complaints or give specifics on when the conversations took place.
“Not a single person was identified. Everything was hearsay,” Kirshman said. “And it still doesn’t explain with all the horrible things she did why they never reduced it to writing.”
Until Tuesday, Kirshman said Peck was never given a reason for the leave nor did she ever receive a written evaluation of her performance during her 18 months on the job. According to her contract, Peck was to be evaluated annually in October.
“If there’s been a failure here, the failure has been on the part of the city,” he said. “There have been no evaluations. There is nothing negative or derogatory in that (her personnel) file.”
Gibson said he and each council member met with Peck individually behind close doors in recent months to relay their concerns and those of city employees. Those face-to-face meetings counted as her evaluation, which her contract does not specify has to be in writing, Gibson said.
“Following those meetings, I came to the conclusion that if we were to conduct a public hearing, an evaluation in a meeting like this in full view of the public, that the consequences could be dire,” he said. “I informed Ms. Peck that I was concerned about having such a meeting. I had no interest in seeing her reputation impaired and having any problems in the future.”
Kirshman said he presented an offer to the city attorney on April 9 with three proposed solutions that included Peck resigning for $1.2 million; arbitrate the severance amount if she was fired “not for cause"; and for both sides to present an offer and allow an arbitrator to determine her final compensation.
Peck will refute the allegations when she testifies before an arbitrator, Kirshman said.
Mayor Gibson and members of the Henderson City Council have absolutely no integrity. None. Zilch. Nada. They have completely besmirched the reputation of Mary Kay Peck, who, until last month, was a valued employee of 16 years with a solid record of serving the City of Henderson with dedication and distinction. She remains a highly regarded urban planner and public administrator both locally and nationally. How can Mayor Gibson and members of the City Council now treat her with such disdain? What is their real agenda? Why can they not produce any specifics about "former City staff" who have made such serious accusations against Ms. Peck? How can she possibly defend herself against such hearsay? For every phantom detractor, there are dozens of real employees, past and present, who worked with Mary Kay and will attest to her professionalism, accountability, and talent. She is a truly remarkable person - someone who certainly deserved much better treatment from Mayor Gibson and the Henderson City Council after spending the bulk of her career MAKING THEM LOOK GOOD. This is petty politics at its worst, folks.
And if Jack Clark and the City Council are so concerned about having a "culture of fear" at City Hall, they should see what they have created in the wake of Mary Kay's firing. The good ole' boys network is back in charge in the back offices of Henderson City Hall, and they are poised to take revenge on anyone or anything even remotely related to Mary Kay. The Culture of Fear started the day she was forced from her office.
You always need to hire a boss from the outside. When an existing employee gets promoted the co workers cannot stand to see the success and work to undermine the authority out of simple envy.
Too bad this city employee had to find out the hard way her friends were really her betrayers.
Good riddance. She was a tyrant, who absolutely ruled with fear. She deserved the exact same treatment as the employees she humiliated by forcing them out. This was not a matter of jealousy or undermining authority because she was promoted; she was a terrible city manager and had no clue about how to create an empowering environment. Employees didn't talk because they were afraid for their jobs and many were made to suffer humiliating circumstances because Ms. Peck felt threatened by their knowledge. The City has very little, if any, institutional memory left because the people who knew anything have gone. She was not good for Henderson.
To "Local"
Mary Kay Peck was no "tyrant" and did never "ruled with fear." A person with such poor qualities would never have been promoted to City Manager nor served with distinction for more than 16 years. Mary Kay did not suddenly turn into the monster that you describe. She was a terrific City Manager who was dedicated to making the City of Henderson a truly excellent place to work. Perhaps you are a disgruntled employee who was held accountable for poor performance. It is doubtful that Ms. Peck was threatened by your knowledge or institutional memory. More likely she was appalled by your lack of professionalism and tact.
I went to the meeting last night on some unrelated business (a parks problem) and I sat through what will be my last city council meeting. What a sham. What these council members did to that poor city manager was a crying shame! I work in HR for a local gaming company, and while Nevada has certain protections, this council seemed to have broken every code of ethic and labor law imaginable! Steve Kirk defamed her publically by making a personal comment on her "ego", and Gerri Schroder was clearly instructed by the Mayor to be his mouthpiece. Does she even have a high school diploma? Its too bad Henderson doesn't televise their meetings. I've never seen a better job of acting in my life. What a sham. If Mary Kay was an assistant city manager prior to her promotion, she probably had supervised staff before in various departments. Looks like a nice multi-million dollar suit for her.
To "Disagree"
Ms. Peck was a classic example of the Peter Principle - she rose (rapidly) to the level of her incompetence. Just because she was an employee for many years does not mean that she was a good City Manager. It was her lack of professionalism and tact that led to her demise; neither you nor she have anyone else to blame.
Local, I can understand what you're saying - I have a new FEMALE boss too, who suddenly thinks she needs to micro-manage me. I've been at this job for 4 yrs. without a single 'issue' and have kept OT to a minimum, scheduled fairly, and have employees under me who are happy to come to work - UNTIL NOW. Apparently I'm suddenly too inept to write my own schedules - too bad the client doesn't seem to agree with my new boss as the new boss will be out the door before I will - so he who laughs last truly does laugh best - hang in there.
According to local,she sounds like a real ankle.
The city manager in Henderson can't operate autonomously without being micro-managed himself by the mayor and councilmen. That's the way it's set up and Peck must have made enemies in those positions. Really, it only takes 2-3 to get crossed sideways with you and pow! you're history, pal. The problem with Henderson's mayor and council positions is they've been there too long. They just seem to shuffle around, and make you think it's a fresh start, but it's the same ole baloney sandwich, just different mustard & bread.
I look forward to seeing Mary Kay Peck in court against the City of Henderson. At least in that venue she will be given the chance to defend herself against such defamation by a bunch of COWARDS! Mayor Gibson, you have lost respect from many who once admired you as a man of impeccable integrity.
I support 'promoting from within' and it has always irked me to no end when companies bring in management from outside. Promoting from within gives employees the hope that they CAN start at the bottom and work their way up. My first promotion from within resulted in my having to let go the very person who encouraged me to take the promotion to being with. This person thought being my 'friend' would somehow entitle her to get away with anything she wanted to do - sadly she found out the hard way that I had to set friendship aside when it came to doing my job - and she was let go. 3 yrs later she came around and told me she understood why I did what I had to do - she really grew up - and we remained friends until I left the state. It can be done (moving up in the ranks) but it does take something 'extra' when you suddenly become a step above your former co-workers.
I know and have worked with Mary Kay and almost all the Henderson City Council for many years. I consider them all my friends. It's sad to see something like this happen and I'm surprised at some of these comments. Some of you are saying the same things about her that I've been hearing about the BC Jr High school teacher, Mr. Rogers. How can she be right and all the council and many many city employees be wrong. I do not know all the facts, but I do know that I still trust and admire our mayor and council members. I'm sorry to see good honest men like Jim Gibson and Jack Clark leave the service of the city. I'm not sorry to see Mary Kay leave. I'm hopeful that it will be with a minimal amount of turmoil and bad feelings.
Gibson and Clark are part of the problem, and the solution is to get rid of them. (I opposed term limits before but now am glad they are in).
Best advice I can give is know the law...Nevada law mandates that employee sessions must comply with open meeting law. It comes with the territory when you report to an elected body.