A former assistant city manager in Portland said she left her job after only three months because of “mutually acknowledged differences of opinions and viewpoints” with City Manager Jon Jennings.
Mona Bector said in a resignation letter to the city that she was disappointed that those differences could not be worked out. Bector’s letter was provided to the Press Herald in response to a formal request for public records.
Mona Bector, former Portland assistant city manager
“Due to mutually acknowledged differences of opinions and viewpoints and the failed attempts to reach a resolution to date, I am resigning from my position of ‘Assistant City Manager,’ ” Bector said. “I regret that this could not work out for either party and I wish you the best.”
Jennings did not respond to a request for an interview to discuss those differences. Bector said in a text message she was unavailable Wednesday afternoon.
It’s unclear why so much time passed before Bector submitted her resignation letter.
Bector’s last work day was Aug. 10. Both she and the city acknowledged that she was no longer employed on Aug. 17. However, her resignation letter was dated Aug. 29 – nearly two weeks later.
City Hall Communications Director Jessica Grondin said Bector will receive her last paycheck on Friday, but it will only be for $2,325 – the value of 31.58 hours of unused vacation time. To date, her gross pay for three months working for the city was $41,670, Grondin said. That figure includes her unused vacation time, as well as $5,000 signing bonus and nearly $4,100 in moving expenses.
Grondin said Bector was not being paid for the period between Aug. 10 and the submission of her formal resignation.
Bector was hired in late May and given an annual salary of $140,000. She held one of two assistant city manager posts at City Hall. The other was filled this month by the city’s former police chief, Michael Sauschuck.
City Manager Jon Jennings is “going to take the next few months to evaluate the position and will decide at that time” whether to fill it, Grondin said last month.
Before coming to Portland, Bector held senior executive positions in state and local governments for 12 years.
She was an assistant commissioner from 2003 to 2013 for a variety of city agencies under former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, including three years as the assistant commissioner of operations for the Department of Consumer Affairs. Before that, she worked for two years at the city’s Administration for Child Services and spent five years at the Department of Education.
She also worked as a deputy commissioner of workforce and talent management for the state of New York’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities from 2014 to 2016.
Randy Billings can be reached at 791-6346 or at:
rbillings@pressherald.com
Twitter: randybillings
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