Five more years: Details of Portsmouth City Manager Karen Conard's new contract

PORTSMOUTH — The City Council voted unanimously to give City Manager Karen Conard a new five-year employment agreement.

The agreement, which starts Jan. 4, 2023, will pay Conard a starting base salary of $175,000 per year, according to Tom Closson, a Nashua attorney who helps negotiate many of the city’s collective bargaining agreements and contracts for senior-level city administrators.

Conard’s base pay in her first three-year agreement was $165,000 annually.

Conard’s new agreement also includes guaranteed cost-of-living adjustments of no less than 2% and no more than 5%, Closson said in a memo to the City Council.

The agreement includes “an increase in the city’s contribution to the city manager’s deferred compensation plan from 11% of her base salary to 14.06% of base salary,” Closson said.

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Conard will also receive the same package of health, life, dental and disability insurance that employees in the city’s Professional Management Association do, according to a copy of her new employment agreement.

Conard will receive a $450 monthly vehicle stipend and accrue vacation leave at a rate of 25 days per year.

Reached Tuesday, Conard said “the opportunity to do this job and to do it well is still the honor and privilege I think I referenced when I first got the job.

“Three years have gone by in the blink of an eye,” said Conard, the city’s first female city manager.

During her next five years, she pledged to “focus on how best to help the council.”

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said about being Portsmouth’s city manager.

Asked about her biggest accomplishments, Conard said, “I would have to say identifying good leaders within the organization and helping to create a … a supportive work environment.”

“Staff are to me number one in my thinking when I walk in the door,” she added.

As she heads into her second contract with the city, Conard will work with the council to focus on the redevelopment of the McIntyre federal building property and “what is the best use of the property at the Community Campus.”

She reflected on a comment that former Mayor Robert Lister made to her.

He told her, she recalled, that she “fit really well” with Portsmouth,” which “meant then and still means the world to me.”

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Mayor Deaglan McEachern said Conard wanted a five-year term instead of three years “for the long-term stability.”

“And for me long-term is better for the city of Portsmouth,” he said Tuesday. “I have faith and confidence she can do the job.”

“I understand her judgment and appreciate it,” he added.

Asked what the unanimous vote shows, McEachern said, “I think it shows that she has all the qualities we would want as a city manager.”

Before the council’s vote on the new agreement, McEachern said, “It’s been fun serving with our city manager.”

“I’ve always been impressed with the city manager’s ability to listen intently, to really look to get action,” McEachern said. “I will say that I’ve been excited for the time that we have been able to serve the city of Portsmouth, but I’m more excited about what you’re going to be in another three years and five years.”

He predicted that Conard “will continue to grow because you’re a curious person who really enjoys this job.”

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City Councilor Andrew Bagley noted Conard “started at probably the worst possible time with a global pandemic hitting, and we faced a lot of challenges as a city."

“And I just want to commend her leadership getting us through that pandemic, not just her obviously, there was a great deal of leadership involved in that,” Bagley said during Monday’s council meeting.

He also complimented Conard for her work with staff members, stating “there’s a lot of city employees and she makes an effort to get to know as many of them as possible.”

City Councilor Rich Blalock also commended Conard, saying “she’s had to handle a great amount of adversity, and unforeseen circumstances.”

“I think she handled those with grace and I’m very impressed,” he said.

City Councilor Beth Moreau added, “I’d just like to say thank you for signing the five-year contract and staying so we get to keep her.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth NH City Manager Karen Conard gets 5-year contract