The Signal Mountain Town Council unanimously approved a separation agreement with former Town Manager Matthew Trollinger with no discussion.
Council members have remained quiet on the reason for the separation, which was publicly discussed among council members aside from Susannah Murdock at an Oct. 4 meeting, for which no recording or written meeting minutes were available as of Monday.
The panel agreed to the separation agreement during a meeting Friday.
At a meeting Oct. 26, council members voted unanimously for terms of the separation agreement to include paying Trollinger three months of his annual base salary as a lump sum, three months of the town’s share of health and dental benefits (or until Trollinger is eligible for benefits though other employment), no admission of liability on either side and an agreement between the parties to make no negative comments about one another in public meetings or in the press.
(READ MORE: Signal Mountain council counters separation offer by town manager)
Town Attorney Harry Cash said at the council’s Oct. 28 work session that Trollinger’s attorney responded to the separation terms and requested the addition of a neutral job reference, as well as pay from Oct. 15 until his resignation is accepted.
“His basis for that is that apparently Oct. 15 was when he planned to return to work,” Cash said at the meeting.
Trollinger had been out on paternity leave, the Chattanooga Times Free Press previously reported.
Based on council consensus, Mayor Charlie Poss asked Cash to draw up a new agreement incorporating Trollinger’s terms, but subtracting eight days from his pay from the period between Oct. 15 until his resignation has been accepted. Trollinger was already paid for those eight days when he took leave he did not have, Poss said.
(READ MORE: Signal Mountain remains silent on cost of firing new town manager)
Before the vote, citizen Gail Greene criticized the council for erroneously including a link to livestream in a notice of a personnel-related meeting Oct. 26 that was not livestreamed, as well as for not making minutes available to the public for the Oct. 4 meeting, at which one council member was not present.
“This alone should nullify any actions that were taken at that meeting, and at the very least, the meeting should be reheld with all discussion of firing our town manager available for tax-paying citizens to hear,” Greene said. “If Matt Trollinger’s actions were egregious enough for him to lose his job, then you all need to stop hiding the details.”
Trollinger’s personnel file did not contain records indicating poor job performance or other criticism of any kind when reviewed Oct. 22 by the Times Free Press.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.