Williston City Manager Scott Lippmann lost some of his salary at Tuesday’s council meeting.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Williston City Manager Scott Lippmann lost some of his salary Tuesday night but didn’t have to repay money from three separate pay raises that apparently were never formally authorized by a vote of the city council.
The council voted 4-1 to reduce Lippmann’s annual salary from $82,220 to $75,000, wiping out several years of pay raises Councilman Charles Goodman said were illegally given to the city manager.
Council President Nancy Wininger cast the lone vote in opposition to cutting Lippmann’s pay, arguing the council had placed the money for Lippmann’s raises in the city’s budget and she just signed the checks as the president.
Council President Nancy Wininger responds to allegations being made by Councilman Charles Goodman.
But Goodman said Lippmann’s contract clearly states that he can only get raises when the council passes a resolution approving the additional salary. Goodman said Lippmann did not have council approval for three years of raises. He chastised Wininger for signing off on the raises.
Councilman Charles Goodman was adamant that the city manager’s contract wasn’t followed in giving Scott Lippmann pay raises.
“You can’t sign at the will of the council unless you know the will of the council,” Goodman said.
Councilwoman Marguerite Robinson and Goodman felt that Lippmann should repay the money from the raises he received over three years without council approval.
“The right thing to do is return the people’s money,” she said.
Councilman Justin Head said he agreed that Lippmann’s salary should be reduced for not receiving council approval for pay raises but he wasn’t comfortable with forcing Lippmann to repay any money.
“At the end of the day the ball was dropped all the way around,” Head said. “It was also dropped on our side.”
Head said the council needed to accept some of the responsibility for what happened.
“I’m at the point where it’s egg on everyone’s faces. We need to own it and move on,” he said.
Goodman’s motion to require Lippmann to repay the money failed on a 3-2 vote with Robinson and Goodman in favor of repayment and with Head, Councilman Elihu Ross and Wininger opposed.
The council was in agreement that future raises would be given to Lippmann only with formal council approval. Lippmann works under a contract with the city.
Goodman was also upset that Lippmann had signed off on giving recently hired City Clerk Latricia Wright an increase in pay without formal council approval.
Lippmann said the city’s human resource manual sets forth a procedure that allowed him to give the raise.
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City of Williston Regular Meeting September 17, 2019; Posted September 17, 2019
