Rocky Mount to pay more than $200k to retiring city manager embroiled in controversy
The city of Rocky Mount will pay more than $200,000 to retiring city manager Rochelle Small-Toney as part of a separation agreement obtained by WRAL News.
In an announcement last Thursday, the city government said Small-Toney was taking an administrative leave from her position as city manager before retiring on Feb. 28. She had served as Rocky Mount's city manager since July 2017.
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WRAL News obtained a copy of the separation agreement between Small-Toney and the city of Rocky Mount on Wednesday, which states that the city will pay her $205,690 to retire from her position and work as an independent contractor for the city government for six months.
Half of the payment will be issued as a taxable wage payment, while the other half will be issued as an independent contractor fee that will not be taxed.
The agreement says as an independent contractor, Small-Toney's responsibilities will be to provide "consulting services, including, without limitation, services related to the transition of management responsibilities to an interim city manager, to the city."
The sum of $205,690 is identified as the equivalent of one year's salary for Small-Toney and will be paid out over the period of six months that she's expected to work as an independent contractor.
The document also stipulates that the agreement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the city toward Small-Toney, and that after Small-Toney accepted the agreement, she would be prevented from filing legal claims against the city or seeking additional compensation of any kind.
Both she and the city also agreed not to disparage one another as one of the conditions of the agreement.
The document does not identify a reason for Small-Toney's departure, only specifying that she voluntarily resigns from the city government on the agreed-upon date of Feb. 28.
Longtime city employee Peter Varney was sworn in as interim city manager for Rocky Mount at the city council meeting on Jan. 24.
Varney served as an assistant city manager in Rocky Mount from 1977 until he retired in 2012.
