A CAMPAIGNER bidding to stop a massive £275,000 golden handshake for Derry City Council chief executive Sharon O’Connor is hoping thousands of people will send a letter of complaint in a bid to stop it.
And Fergal Barr has been doing his sums – saying the total cost of having Ms O’Connor in charge of the council from November 2011 until now is an astonishing £605,000.
“That’s at least £16,806 per month,” said Mr Barr.
“That has been the cost of her £110,000 annual salary plus the £275,000 golden handshake.
“That doesn’t include expenses or £500 per day mentors who worked alongside her.”
Mr Barr is the man behind this Facebook Page opposing the £275,000 pay-out.
Opposed to Derry City Council’s £275K golden handshake to Chief Executive
Now he’s urging citizens to use his letter below and urging people to post it and email it to Derry City Council.
It reads:
Dear Derry City Council
Recently we discovered that you are willing to pay former Chief Executive, Sharon O’Connor £275, 000 to leave the Council. Yes, that’s right; you’re actually paying her to leave!! For now I won’t call this ‘redundancy’ because this normally applies to people who have little option but to leave but as I understand it Sharon requested to leave which means she isn’t actually being made redundant, right? You can correct me but this is how I understand redundancy? No? Well please explain.
If she requested to leave then surely she has decided she no longer wishes to work for Derry City Council and therefore a ‘thank you and wish you the best in the future statement’ would ensue. No? Well please explain.
So if a Council employee decided to leave he or she would hand in their notice, right? And of course, he or she would be entitled to whatever time in lieu they were in entitled to (I’m sure as a public body you don’t employ this policy in real terms) or whatever outstanding holidays they were entitled too, right?
If Sharon O’Connor started in Nov 2011 and finished (as seems the case) in or about Nov/Dec 2014 she might not have a lot of leave left or assuming she took no leave in her last 12 months she would probably have around a month’s leave which would equate to about £9, 66 then how the hell does she walk away with £275K when she herself has asked to leave? No? Well please explain.
Sharon O’Connor was appointed in Nov 2011, right? That means she has been employed for 36 months, right? Her £110k salary + £275 ‘redundancy’ has cost Derry City Council at least £605k which equates to £16, 806 per month. No? Well please explain.
Sharon O’Connor also received a £500-a-day mentor when she first started, right? I can’t imagine it lasted more than a week to help her ‘embed’ in?? No? Well please explain.
Sharon O’Connor also received relocation costs, right? She had to move furniture and stuff? I can’t imagine why if I was on £110k a year I would accept relocation costs – to another country perhaps, to another county less that 110km away (maybe she confused £110k and 110km). If I was on £110k a year I’d leave my furniture exactly where it’s at (if I moved it to the other side of the living room it might fall apart) and run to the nearest IKEA and place an order!!! Is it true? No? Well please explain.
Sharon O’Connor also received a rent allowance, right? So, not only did was she paid £110K a year, £10K more than the previous Chief Executive but we rate payers also paid for her relocation costs and rent for, who knows how long??? No? Well please explain.
So Derry City Council, in short you paid the most recent Chief Executive £110K a year, £275K in ‘redundancy’, a £500-a-day mentor as well as covered relocation and rent costs…..I’m sure she also had a travel allowance…wow, where can I get a job like that! No? Well please explain.
So Derry City Council, as a rate paying citizen of this wonderful city, can you please explain to me how you managed to approve this deal? I know it’s probably bound up in some legal ‘stuff’ but before you appointed Sharon O’Connor you must have known RPA was on the way and the implications of this and you must have known the difference between someone being made redundant and someone requesting to leave, right? No? Well please explain.
Elected representatives of Derry City Council I would call upon you to explain to all the citizens in the City of Derry~Londonderry and the entire Council area how this deal came to be? Can you explain how this ‘deal’ was ‘worked’ not just as part of the ‘redundancy’ but before Sharon O’Connor came into post?
You see, in 5 months time there will be an election, and of course I expect most of you will stand again for election, and as a rate paying citizen of this city I expect you will be canvassing our doors again, and I will have to make an informed decision, and I would like to know before I make that decision who is responsible for this situation.
I understand that when you stand for election you are in effect agreeing to stand for a whole lot more of your life being taking up by other people’s issues. But as a rate-paying citizen of this city I can’t stand idly by and quietly endorse this ludicrous decision. I pay rates which keep many of the essential services in this city going not to mention pay expenses and recompense you for your commitment to Derry City Council.
As Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ (or something like that), so Elected Representatives of our city please explain to me how 36 months of the former Chief Exec of Derry City Council managed to cost us more than (at the very very very least) £600K per during her tenure?
Thank you
Yours faithfully
Opposed to Derry City Council’s golden handshake to Chief Executive
PS Don’t forget to remind us of all the‘Elected Representatives’ who approved this deal
PPS Don’t forget to remind us the total costs of the £500-a-day mentor nor the total relocation and rent costs…..we’ll simply request it in a FOI request so save time and just tell us!! We want to know the real costs
PPPS Did the £110K salary for Sharon O’Connor include ENIC’s??? Please let us know what DCC’s contributions to HMRC were (Tax and NI)
PPPPS At a very individual level we know there is probably very little we can do about this and know matter how many likes our facebook page gets or how angry we get in the local press, we probably can’t change this decision and as much as we’d hope Sharon O’Connor might offer back just some (if not all) of the embarrassing ‘pay-off’ you gave her we want you to know that these are the kinds of events that remain in our mind when we are casting our votes.
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