Sparks City Charter Section 1.080 states “except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the City Manager shall appoint heads of each department.”  The City Manager has selected Douglas R. Thornley, for the department head role of Assistant City Manager.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Thornley started his career with the City of Sparks in 2007 as Deputy City Attorney. He promoted to the level of Senior Assistant City Attorney in 2011. During his tenure with the City, Mr. Thornley successfully represented the City in numerous lawsuits and provided legal advice to all the departments in the City including Human Resources, Fire, Police, Finance, Planning, Community Services, Business Licensing, and Finance. Mr. Thornley was employed with the City until September 2017, when he left the City for private practice.

While in private practice, Mr. Thornley continued to hone his skills in the areas of planning, zoning, contract negotiations, municipal law, and commercial litigation.

Mr. Thornley was granted a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Richmond and he was awarded a law degree from Stetson University College of Law.

The City of Sparks utilizes pay resolutions to define salaries and benefits for unrepresented employees, such as the department heads, not covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements under NRS 288.  The position of Assistant City Manager is covered under the Executive Resolution, with no changes required.  The employment agreement defines terms not contained in the Executive Resolution.

Following is a summary of the Agreement reached between the parties.  This summary outlines portions of the negotiated contract. The full proposed Agreement between the City of Sparks and Douglas R. Thornley is attached.

The term of the agreement begins June 3, 2019 and the initial expiration date is December 31, 2019.  The agreement may be renewed before December 31, 2019 and at that point the agreement may become year to year with the contract year beginning January 1 and ending December 31^st.

The Council adopted a classification system and compensation program which is used to determine base pay.  Korn Ferry Hay Group, an international leader in this type of work, set the level for the Assistant City Manager at 23.  The proposed salary of $160,160.00 is within the pay range. Mr. Thornley would be eligible for merit increases until his pay reaches the maximum of the pay range.

Benefits of the position are defined in the attached Executive Resolution approved by City Council September 10, 2018.

There is no financial impact.  Budget impacts were presented as part of the City Manager’s budget recommendations for FY20 heard at the April 22, 2019 City Council meeting.

1. The Council may choose to approve the Employment Agreement between the City of Sparks and Douglas R. Thornley for the position of Assistant City Manager.
2. The Council may choose not to approve the Employment Agreement between the City of Sparks and Douglas R. Thornley for the position of Assistant City Manager.
3. The Council may choose not to approve the Employment Agreement and direct the City Manager toward another alternative.

I move to approve the Assistant City Manager Employment Agreement (AC-5574) between the City of Sparks and Douglas R. Thornley and authorize the City Manager to execute the contract.