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Full-time employees of City of Shawnee to get one-time retention bonus of $5,000

Shawnee will award a one-time bonus to all city employees next month after the city council approved the spending at their regular meeting Monday in a 5-3 vote.

According to city documents, there are 25 vacancies across all departments, including 12 positions in the police department. Because of those openings, there is a $2.5 million surplus in the funds budgeted for city employee salary and benefits, and that money will fund the bonuses.

There are 317 full-time employees who will receive a $5,000 lump sum in their July 29 paycheck, and eight regular part-time employees who will receive a prorated bonus depending on whether they are part-time or three-quarters time employees, according to Julie Breithaupt, a spokeswoman for the city.

Councilwoman Jill Chalfie said at the meeting that even if positions are not filled, the jobs still need to be done, so employees are taking on more work and responsibilities to keep the city functioning.

Councilman Eric Jenkins said that Shawnee already has a leaner staff than surrounding Johnson County communities, even without the vacancies.

“It’s starting to impact us pretty negatively, and people are starting to head towards the exits because it’s a little more than they’re willing to absorb at this point,” Jenkins said.

Mayor Michelle Distler said that they should show city employees that while they have been picking up the jobs of others, it has been appreciated. She said she sees this as an investment.

Councilwoman Tammy Thomas said she wasn’t sure that the bonuses were the best use of the extra funds. The vacancy rate is 7.5% and the 12 jobs in the police department make up nearly half of all the open positions.

She recommended focusing on which departments are lacking the most and figuring out why they are having staffing issues, saying they should direct more attention to public safety like the police and fire departments.

Councilmember Tony Gillette said he sympathizes with the struggles of turnover rates, but said it is a national problem and not unique to Shawnee. He said he ran on being fiscally conservative and they should spend taxpayer dollars wisely.

“It’s a large sum of money and to the citizens, they’re not getting that from their employers. I’m not getting that in my home, and we’re not getting that from our employers,” Councilwoman Jacklynn Walters said.

Walters agreed that hiring problems and inflation are affecting everyone, not just city employees.

Distler said that in order to maintain public safety, they should not just focus on the police and fire departments. She said that lacking staff in the IT department is just as important as the police department, because the police need the IT department to make sure their technology is working.

“I’m concerned that we are putting them at greater risk by not supporting the people that support them,” Distler said.

She said that while the police and fire departments are on the ground risking their lives, they cannot do their jobs safely without the support of other city staff and departments.

Shawnee Police Chief Sam Larson said that they don’t want to lose employees to other cities and this bonus will help them retain people.

“The officer that started this morning could quit today and go to Lenexa and make 12 to 13% more than he’s making in Shawnee,” Larson said.

The bonus will be distributed next month and has a six-month clawback period, meaning that if an employee leaves within six months of receiving the bonus, they must pay it back to the city.