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PHOENIX — The mayor and three remaining members of the City Council voted Tuesday to settle with City Manager Jane Turner to avoid future litigation and to keep Turner on board while her replacement is hired. The agreement essentially awards Turner $60,000 in severance pay when she leaves the city in March in exchange for her releasing the city and all council members from any potential claims relating to alleged violations of her employment contract in recent months. Turner retained an attorney after two council members were accused of violating the conditions of her employment contract by attempting to micromanage city staff and by requesting unnecessary closed meetings. Turner's attorney, Sydnee Dreyer, told the city that council members Stan Bartell and Chris Luz, who have resigned, subjected Turner to a hostile work environment and "a great deal of stress "… in addition to discrimination on the basis of her age." When Turner declined to mediate with the council in favor of an investigation that would have cost the city $5,000 to $10,000, Luz and Bartell agreed to resign. Bartell's wife, Carolyn Bartell, also resigned in protest of Mayor Carlos DeBritto's handling of the situation, leaving the City Council with only three members. Tuesday's settlement also requires that existing and future council members be educated about the city manager form of government, which prohibits a city council from making decisions pertaining to city employees. Council President Bruce Sophie said the settlement would bring closure to the dispute and that he hoped added training would help the city run more smoothly. "This settlement was to mitigate what came up before with allegations against some of our councilors," Sophie said. "After dealing with the turmoil of what was going on and the stress factor, we're hoping we can move forward." City Attorney Kurt Knudsen said Turner's employment contract already entitled her to six months' pay if her employment is terminated by the citybefore the end of her contract term. Tuesday's settlement will award Turner the severance when she leaves in six months. Mayor Carlos DeBritto said the city was grateful that Turner had agreed to stay on board while her replacement is recruited. "We are technically asking her to stay on as long as she can or will," DeBritto said. "Technically, if she wants to leave now, she could give us a 30-day notice and be gone. Knowing how hard it is to find a replacement in that short a time, what she's doing is giving us enough time to find somebody to replace her." Budget committee member Gary Reed voiced concerns about recent issues with the council and about the agreement with Turner. "As a budget committee member, I'm concerned with where that money is coming from," Reed said. "Another concern I have as a citizen is they only have three council members so they've got three people making all the decisions right now." DeBritto said a handful of applications were received from residents interested in the three vacancies. With just three council members remaining, scheduled council meetings for Sept. 19 and Oct. 3 were canceled for lack of a quorum. New applicants could be appointed Oct. 17. u In other Phoenix news, the City Council approved a $1 annual stipend for council members that would change voting rules for issues in which council members are personally involved. In June, when council members Stan Bartell and Chris Luz faced allegations of violating the terms of City Manager Jane Turner's employment contract and the city charter, both were permitted to vote on related issues. With a pecuniary, or monetary, interest, similar issues in the future would require that council members affected by a vote excuse themselves from the process. Council President Bruce Sophie said the newly approved stipend would begin in January. Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at [email protected].