Friday, March 28, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Clark County Manager Pat Shalmy is the Cal Ripken of government workers, an Iron Man of public service who works 12-hour days and rarely calls in sick.
Unlike Ripken, the Baltimore Orioles infielder who beat Yankee hall-of-famer Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played, Shalmy's attendance hasn't been perfect, but close to it. Except for a bout with the flu and a week-long hospital stay for back surgery, he can't remember when else he's been absent during his 19-year stint with the county.
So he feels he's earned the $88,600 check for 1,728 hours of unused sick leave he'll be getting when he makes the transition from public service to private enterprise next week.
"I was surprised that it came out to so much money," Shalmy said, "but I'm proud to say I've earned it, that is before Uncle (Sam) gets his share."
Under the county's management plan, which is renegotiated and approved periodically for about 200 administrators, Shalmy is entitled to about $220,000 in retirement benefits.
He will get $19,530 for 279 hours of unused vacation leave, $3,454 in longevity pay, a $1,679 bonus for the number of years he didn't take more than 40 hours in sick leave, and $33,586 for three months of severance pay, according to the Personnel Department.
About 5,000 county employees under a separate labor agreement are entitled to the same sick leave and vacation pay buyouts. Both agreements are periodically renegotiated and approved by the commission.
Shalmy also is set to receive $72,769 for six months of severance pay under a separate contract with the county, to be approved by the County Commission on Tuesday. County officials said Shalmy is entitled to both severance benefits.
Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates said it seemed like a high amount to pay for sick leave, but if that's what the contract said, then that's what the county has to live by unless other board members want to change it.
"If there's an appetite from the board to do that, sure, we'll look at it," Gates said of negotiating those issues next time the contract and management plan are up for negotiation. "Do I intend to do it? No."
County employees start off receiving 3.7 hours of sick leave per pay period, or about 96 hours a year. After 10 years with the county, the rate of accrual goes up to 4.62 hours a pay period, or 120 hours a year.
After three years of employment with the county, workers can receive 50 percent of their accumulated sick leave based on their current rate of pay. But if they stay with the county, the amount they could receive increases 1 1/2 percent a year, so that after 30 years they can get almost 100 percent of their leftover sick leave pay.
Based on Shalmy's tenure of roughly 18.5 years, he has earned 1,983 hours and used 255 hours of sick leave, or a total of six weeks or 32 working days he stayed home -- averaging half a day a year.
Shalmy's buyout is based on about 73 percent for 1,728 unused hours at an hourly rate of $70.
"That's the standard thing people get," said Tom Warden, assistant to the county manager. "When you happen to be the highest paid person in the county, it looks like a lot."
Shalmy said he is "one of those kinds who works even when he's sick, but I don't encourage it in others."
Nonetheless, he said he hoped his buyout will be an incentive for other employees to not use their sick leave.
"If you don't abuse sick leave," Shalmy said, "it will accumulate for when you truly need it."
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