NSBNEWS.net photos by Sera Frederick. Interim City Manager Pam Brangaccio's hopes for a $132,500 salary and other perks that would have pushed her annual compensation gross to $257,108 were dashed Wednesday night when the City Commission unanimously agreed on a salary of $100,000 as part of an offer to remove the "interim" tag and make her the permanent city manager. The counter proposal voted on by the commission saves the taxpayers $98,737. Whether she accepts the deal remains to be seen. Mayor Adam Barringer, center photo, had initially put an offer of $114,975. Commissioner Jim Hathaway, far right photo, suggested $110,000 while Commissioner Lynne Plaskett, far right, and Jack Grasty, far left photo, opted for $115,000. Commissioner Judy Reiker suggested $101,000, but possibly higher in six months with a positive evaluation. Eventually, Barringer and Reiker favored Hathaway's figure and Grasty and Plakett then fell in line. Brangaccio was silent.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- What a difference six months makes for Interim City Manager Pam Brangaccio. Try $22,500 less.
NSBNEWS.net photo by Sera Frederick. Interim City Manager listens to the proceedings along with Assistant City Manager Khalid Reseidat, the former interim city manager, who filled in between February and July, when the commission fired John Hagood.
Brangaccio who had initially asked for $132,500 annually back in July before agreeing to a six-month contract calling for $10,000 a month, plus $1,500 in housing subsidies after the commission balked at her initial request.
That six-month salary annualized comes to $138,000, with the housing subsidy converted to salary.
But from the start of Wednesday night's meeting, a prosed contract drawn up by Mayor Adam Barringer called for a salary of $114,475, before the commissioners finally settled on an offer of $110,000.
Brangaccio saw her $257,108 salary package reduced by $98,737, when all was said and done.
Besides the reduction in proposed salary, severance was reduced from six months to two months for each year of service, capped at six months total for three years and beyond.
A $5,200 auto allowance was dropped in favor of use of a city vehicle and or mileage reimbursement at federal levels.
The 61.5 percent salary package reduction did not sit well with Commissioner Lynne Plaskett, noting Brangaccio has already been receiving more monthly than what the city was now offering, adding she's done admirably.
"I don't know why you want to go backwards," Plaskett said.
Barringer responded, "These are the mechanics of the contract. We have to essentially take the person out of this."
That didn't sit well with Plakett: But we really can't"
Barringer responded, "But we have to."
Commissioner Judy Reiker at first sounded as if Brangaccio's request was justified, saying, "We are hiring the CEO for our city. The city manager is running a $49 million budget. That's pretty heady."
But later, when pressed by the mayor for a salary figure, Reiker suggested $101,000 as a starting salary.
Commissioner Jack Grasty said his range inclination was $90,000 to $117,000, but he felt comfortable at $115,000.
Commissioner Jim Hathaway struck the compromise chord that lined up the commissioners unanimously behind a $110,000 salary.
"Starting a little lower and working our way up might be a smarter move than going for the stars and the moon," he said.
Hathaway suggested that while property values in New Smyrna Beach were down now because of the recession, it would be an opportune time for Brangaccio to buy a home here.
While on the recession theme, Hathaway said now is not the time to send the wrong message to the taxpayers: "I don't see any bright lights going off anywhere -- the best thing (during the holidays) was some Yankees were buying some items off a shelf."
Then Hathaway got right to the dollars and cents, saying, "I'll throw out a $110 figure. I'm not throwing it out in a careless or cavalier sense."
The mayor said he liked that figure and Reiker was quick to put her support behind it, followed by Grastty and Plaskett.
Brangaccio, 55, a Tampa-area resident and former Broward County administrator, did not speak on the issue.
She declined comment after the meeting.
Barringer will negotiate a contract with her 3 p.m. Friday at City Hall commission chambers. That meeting is open to the public under provisions of the Florida Sunshine statutes.