City Hall Battle Erupts Over $34K “Illegal” Severance Package to Muksian

Sunday, April 09, 2017

GoLocalProv News Team

Robin Muksian, former Chief Operating Officer

A battle between the City of Providence's Treasurer's office, the City Council, and the Mayor's office over the severance package for former Director of Administration Robin Muksian has resulted in charges of intimidation and "disingenuous decisions."

The Mayor's office announced on March 28 that Muksian would be "resigning," amidst allegations that she pushed forth an unqualified candidate to be the new Board of Licenses Administrator, due to her personal relationship with the candidate's family.

On Friday, City Treasurer Jim Lombardi blasted the city's finance and legal departments for pushing for a $34,000 severance package for Muksian -- who had been making $127,000 -- without approval by the City Council.

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Lombardi's Letter

Lombardi sent the following to the City Council on Friday, outlining the situation:

I am writing to bring a concerning situation to the members of the Council. As you are aware by an email that you received, the former COO was in the process of receiving a severance package. I immediately emailed the Solicitor on March 29, 2017 to remind him that all severance packages that provide more than the Ordinances allow must be approved by the City Council (attached). It was my understanding that a check would be issued and I would send it to Council for approval. This was an agreement that I had with the Controller's office and not unusual. Historically, most severance packages have complied with the Ordinances. Those that did not or were fixed before funds were released.

Yesterday, I was alerted to a direct deposit for the COO that substantially exceeded the Ordinances. It was a payment for $34,215 with an amount deemed "severance" for $19,692 (attached). I immediately emailed the Controller's office to reverse the $19,692 severance portion of the payment and they stated that the Law Department opined it was proper. The refused to separate the payment. Unfortunately, this is a complete breakdown of the checks and balances authorized by the City Charter.

City Hall Battle Erupts Over $34K “Illegal” Severance Package to Muksian

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