City councillors, school presidents or justices of the peace who are voted out or who leave voluntarily now receive generous severance payments – up to 4.8 years’ wages. This is going to change.
Those who leave the city council should in future receive a lower severance payment.
A major scandal broke out last year when it became known that SP school president Roberto Rodriguez had voluntarily resigned from his post and received a severance payment of CHF 650,000 – even though he already had a new job.
“Blick” has now announced that since 2006 a total of 6.7 million Swiss francs have been distributed to twenty officials. Eight people are former City Council members. Claudia Nielsen (SP), who resigned in 2018 after massive criticism, received CHF 856,657.
However, the highest amount did not go to a city councillor, but to a person who was a member of the guardianship authority from 2004 to 2012 – she was replaced by the Kesb in 2013. The person received 905,246 francs, which corresponds to 4.8 annual salaries.
“Only” 1.8 annual wages
Such excesses should now be over. The city parliament ordered clear cuts in severance payments on Wednesday, which even go beyond the city council’s proposals. The parties agreed that the amounts paid out today were far too high.
For example, Parliament approved a motion by the Greens that demands that in future only members of the city council should be able to enjoy a golden parachute.
Today, a whole range of other officials are taken into account, including the presidents of the district school board such as Roberto Rodriguez, the ombudsperson and the justices of the peace. The city council even wanted to add the Director of Financial Control.
However, these officials should now be employed in accordance with municipal personnel law. There was consensus in Parliament that these members of the authorities were less exposed in public and that they had a good chance of finding a job again if they were voted out.
The highest compensation is no longer 4.8 annual salaries, but “only” 1.8. This amount is paid to people between the ages of 54 and 56 who involuntarily retire after eight years or more in office. Anyone who voluntarily gives up the chair after less than eight years will receive nothing at all.
EPP and AL went too far. The severance payments help a city councilor to exercise the office independently and after leaving the executive get a grace period so that they don’t have to take on a new job directly, said Ernst Danner (EPP). The severance pay is far from what is usual in the private sector. “We mustn’t be petty here.”
A city council member can also resign due to illness or burnout, added Patrik Maillard (AL). Such a departure has nothing to do with voluntariness. One should not assume that city councilors are rip-offs.
The city council had also proposed that half of the new income during the severance payment period should be offset against the compensation. On Wednesday, however, a solution prevailed in which all income had to be deducted.
Leupi: “Not enthusiastic”
The city council is not enthusiastic about the changes, said CFO Daniel Leupi (Greens). But he understands the anger about the severance payments currently in force. In fact, these shouldn’t be as high: “Anyone who is on the city council today and has worked has a better pension fund than twenty years ago.”
However, a city councilor leaves his professional environment; there have already been cases in which executive politicians have not found any follow-up solutions and have become social cases. With the changes made, Parliament is sending a signal that the function of a city councilor is more salaried.
With the significant cuts, Parliament has come very close to an initiative by the SVP, which only provides for severance pay for city council members in the amount of one year’s wages. However, the party is sticking to the initiative, as Susanne Brunner explained. Financial security for city councilors is not inherently bad. But you don’t want city councilors to put their severance pay together in a kit.