Dayton City Manager Kimberly Judge got a nod of approval from the Dayton City Council Thursday evening, Jan. 18, when Council agreed to provide her with a contract that provides a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), longevity pay and a one-year contract buyout if she is terminated without cause.
The vote followed a lengthy executive session, the second of two, during which Judge met briefly with Council to negotiate terms of the contract. The COLA increase and the longevity pay bonus are paid to other City of Dayton employees. Judge’s current annual salary, not including the COLA and longevity pay, is $185,000. Judge has served as city manager since January 2023. She previously served as assistant city manager and director of the city’s Planning and Development Services. She has worked for the City of Dayton for nine years.
Roughly a dozen people came to the meeting to seek disannexation of their properties on SH 146 at the Liberty-Chambers county line. With the City of Dayton unable to provide even basic services to these residents, Council agreed to the disannexation request.
Council also heard from Daisetta City Councilman Ryan Taylor who is seeking nomination to the Brazos Transit District Board. Prior to the meeting in Dayton, he received support for his nomination by the Ames City Council and Daisetta City Council.
While Taylor has a limited knowledge of the BTDB, he told Council he is willing to learn and hopes to ensure that everyone in rural communities has access to BTD transportation shuttles. Judge said she would be pleased to have a BTDB member looking out for Liberty County’s interest and was in favor of Council backing his nomination.
Councilwoman Valorie Barton asked Judge if any other candidates had notified the City of their interest to serve on the board, but Judge said there were no other candidates and the nomination deadline is Jan. 31, 2024. Council then unanimously voted in favor of supporting Taylor as a nominee to the board.
With city council positions up for election on May 4, 2024, Council ordered an election to be held that day for the purposes of electing three people to Positions 1, 2 and 3. As the City is switching from two-year terms to three-year terms, two of the persons who are elected in May will serve three-year terms while one person will serve a two-year term. City Attorney Brandon Davis recommended drawing from a hat to see which candidate serves the shorter term.
As the election coincides with school board elections, the City has agreed to a joint election agreement with Dayton ISD as has been the practice in previous years.
Council approved a request for road closures and use of City facilities for the upcoming Dayton Ole Tyme Days Festival, which is set for April 12-14 and includes a downtown festival and parade. Council also agreed to provide the DOTD committee with $5,000 from hotel occupancy taxes to promote and advertise the event.
So she figured she had better get so money before they fire her
We want to disannex our property too. FM 1960 on the north side has no city services but has to pay city taxes. This is wrong!!!!
$185,000??? Plus benefits. The city council members that made that decision were stupid, wasteful, and worthless.
That’s all they are paying her? It is well below average for that position, should be at least $25,000 to $50,000 more. Pretty sure they paid the city manager that was sleeping with employees and making taxpayer money disappear more. Shame on the council.