City manager resigns with 16-month payout

by Michele Collins

Feb. 22 special city council meeting

Hudson City Council accepted the resignation of City Manager Jane Howington. Howington, who has served as city manager since 2014, resigned effective March 18. She did not make any comment at the meeting.

The resignation comes just two weeks after council held a special meeting to consider Howington’s suspension and removal. At that meeting on Feb. 8, council went immediately into executive session, where it met for more than 30 minutes behind closed doors and then reconvened with President Chris Foster saying it had reached “a tentative agreement” with the city manager.

The separation agreement, which ScripType Publishing obtained via a public records request, states that Howington receives a lump sum payment equal to 16 months’ salary as a severance, in addition to any accrued, unused sick or vacation days. Her most recent annual salary was $168,000. The city also pays for the former city manager’s COBRA insurance premium for a period of 16 months.

With the agreement, Howington relinquishes her right to sue for claims “arising out of, or relating to, her employment with, or separation of employment from, Hudson,” according to the document.  

At the Feb. 22 special council meeting, several residents said council’s actions had forced a valuable and experienced city staff member to resign. Resident Andrea Bucey Tikkanen said she had heard that the severance package amounted to more than $300,000 and demanded to know if taxpayers would have to foot this bill. Some blamed new city council members for not giving Howington a chance to work with them before trying to remove her.

Other residents, however, said they felt it was time for a change in city leadership. Former council member Brian Daley of Hudson stated that the city had spent millions of dollars on things like Velocity Broadband and Main Street widening, while leaving other projects, like road repairs, undone.

Foster spoke in response to some of the residents’ comments, saying he could point to $24 million of projects that were unfunded, including road and infrastructure repairs, while more than $25 million was spent on Phase 2 downtown development, land purchases and Velocity Broadband by the previous council. He called these projects “fiscally wasteful.”

Council voted 6-1 to accept Howington’s resignation. Council member Nicole Kowalski was the sole holdout.

Kowalski said, “I would like to thank you, Jane. I enjoyed working with you and even in the most difficult times, you showed professionalism and kindness.”

Council member Kate Schlademan said she felt “the process was really difficult for everyone, and [that] she was sad for losing Jane,”

“I do feel it is best for us to move forward, and I hope the council can now come together,” Schlademan added.

The city manager’s resignation follows Mayor Craig Shubert resignation on Feb. 14. ∞