Alvin Anderson, fired from his position as Richmond City Clerk on March 11, walked away with a severance pay package worth $$58,333.31 as well as $10,029.49 for 208.6 hours of unused vacation time. as reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch today.
The information was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the newspaper. When looking further into Anderson's firing, a pattern emerges showing he is just one in a long line of city officials that have walked away from their jobs taking tens of thousands of taxpayers dollars with them.
In February, the city lost Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood, who resigned because of continuing tensions with Mayor Dwight C. Jones' administration. His severance package amounted to almost $67,060, that included more than four months pay plus $16,478 in unused vacation time.
Going back to December of 2012, the city Department of Social Services deputy chief administrative officer, Carolyn N. Graham resigned because of an ongoing investigation into whether the department's practices were putting children at risk by leaving them in abusive or neglectful environments too long.
Graham received $40,000 in severance pay and $18,463.20 for 240 hours of unused vacation time. City Council Vice President Ellen F. Robertson said these packages can be necessary to fill city jobs, when she was asked about the city's severance pay policies.
Citing the competitive nature of hiring found in government as well as in the private sector, City Council President Charles R. Samuels said,
“It’s easy to report on government and publicly traded companies and their severance packages. We don’t know what happens with the private companies There is a competition … to try to get good people in positions.”
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