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Blog calls McAvoy contract into question
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Friday, January 5, 2007 1:08 PM EST
CORUNNA - Comments by an Internet political blogger recently prompted Shiawassee County officials to seek a legal opinion regarding the employment contract of the county administrator.
Christine Barry, of Caledonia Township, wrote in her Dec. 23 blog that she questioned whether the contract for County Administrator Margaret McAvoy, approved by the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners in July, actually is valid through 2009.
Blog is short for Web log, which is a journal or newsletter which is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption.
In her blog, Barry cited state law which says the term of a county administrator's employment contract “shall be three years or less, unless the employment contract is entered into on or after Aug. 1 of an even-numbered year, in which case the term of the employment contract shall be one year or less.”
Although the Board of Commissioners approved McAvoy's contract at its July 27 meeting, making it retroactive to March, she did not sign the contract until Aug. 24.
Barry said she questions whether the contract was enacted before or after Aug. 1 and if it wasn't, if that means McAvoy's contract expires in March.
“It's just my opinion,” Barry said. “I suppose there's a case to be made.”
McAvoy said because the board took action before Aug. 1 the contract should be valid through March 2009, but a legal opinion is being sought to make sure.
That opinion was supposed to be available to the county Thursday, but McAvoy said it would only be made public if the commissioners released it because of attorney/client privacy issues.
Barry said while the commissioners may claim it was their intent to enter into a three-year agreement, and that they agreed to the terms in July, state law reads that the parties have to enter into the contract - not agree to it, or intend to enter into it.
“There are two standards here,” Barry said. “You can't go by intent when it comes to the county drain commissioner, but you can when it comes to Margaret (McAvoy)?”
Barry referred to former Drain Commissioner Bernie Butcher, who is now facing a charge of embezzlement from the county prosecutor's office for accepting more than $31,000 in soil erosion inspection fees. Barry, who has solicited donations to Butcher's legal defense fund through her blog, said prosecutors have stated Butcher's intent was irrelevant at the time he accepted the fees.
Butcher's case is scheduled to go before a Circuit Court judge Jan. 16.
Dawn Phillips Hertz, an attorney with the Michigan Press Association, said the matter is a question of the interpretation of the state statute.
“The question is whether (McAvoy) signing the contract was essential,” Hertz said. “The negotiations were already done. Was her signature just a formality?”
Barry said McAvoy's contract intrigued her because it was seemingly put off by the Board of Commissioners until after negotiations with county union employees were over.
During those negotiations, employees were told there was no money in the county budget for raises, while McAvoy received a raise from $64,942 to $71,503 when her job was reclassified from being that of a county coordinator to administrator.
If the contract were determined to be valid only until March, the Board of Commissioners could choose to let McAvoy go without further compensation, Hertz said.
McAvoy said that serving as an “at will” employee means the board could fire her at any time, for any reason.
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On the Web:
Christine Barry's blog can be viewed at www.christinebarry.com.
