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Dennis O'Keefe fires back on ex-mayor's criticism of retirement pay

St. John's Mayor Dennis O'Keefe is defending his council's decision to pay out former city manager Neil Martin more than $640,000.

The story might have gotten a little lost given the other Martin severance saga making headlines in this province, namely the controversy over former Nalcor CEO Ed Martin that has engulfed Premier Dwight Ball.

Earlier this week, former mayor Andy Wells called the current council "totally dishonest" and "cowards" for its handling of Neil Martin's severance.

Speaking to On The Go on Wednesday afternoon, O'Keefe assured taxpayers in the capital city that he and his council had done nothing wrong.

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Nothing wrong

"There was nothing done that should not have been done," the mayor said.

"Council did not break any of its policies and we've been very upfront, and we should be, about the amounts involved."

After 29 years with the city, Neil Martin walked away with $640,206.

"Essentially what we had to do was negotiate a retirement package which is what we did," O'Keefe said.

"It is not a severance payment, it's not a severance package, it's a retirement package."

This is how the money breaks down:

- Annual leave: $234,993 [Martin was entitled to bank unlimited annual leave, a provision that's now being phased out, and capped at a maximum 12 weeks]

- Sick leave: $126,465 [based on daily pay rate, times the number of unused sick days in leave bank]

- Retiring allowance: $144,000 [one week's pay for each year of service]

- Salary continuance: $134,748 [six months]

O'Keefe said the city negotiated the salary continuance and felt it got a good deal for taxpayers.

"This is a large amount of money," he said.

"Council was very judicious in its negotiations and relied very heavily on information from our city solicitor."

The mayor said Martin had been pushing for more.

When asked to produce the settlement agreement, O'Keefe said that is a decision that would have to be voted on by council.

"It would be really problematic for this council and future councils in dealing with employment issues with other employees that may arise," he said.