"The municipal director sent home: 'Something very concrete triggers this dismissal'"

Cost to fire municipal director estimated at two million kroner

The cost of firing a municipal director is approximately two million kroner, according to a municipal expert.

The municipal director of Varde Municipality, Henning Haar Pedersen, has been dismissed. His replacement, Karoline Klaksvig, who is the director of Planning and Technology, will temporarily take over the municipal director's duties. (Photo: © Claus Fisker, Ritzau Scanpix) 18 minutes ago

The dismissal of the municipal director in Varde Municipality appears to be due to a recent event that has disrupted cooperation at the top of the municipality.

So says the assessment of municipal expert Roger Buch from the Danish School of Media and Journalism, after Varde Municipality announced that the economic committee will no longer work with municipal director Henning Haahr Pedersen.

"It typically costs around two million kroner to fire a municipal director, because they have some quite favorable severance packages. They usually receive two years' salary," said Roger Buch, municipal expert.

"If I were to guess, I would say that there must be something concrete that leads to the conclusion that cooperation cannot continue," he added.

Read also: Varde Municipality ends cooperation with municipal director (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/seneste/varde-kommune-stopper-samarbejde-med-kommunaldirektoer)

-----------------------------------------

Dismissal comes at a peculiar time

-----------------------------------------

In a press release from Varde Municipality, it is stated that "cooperation will cease" and the reason given is that "the economic committee wishes for a different profile to lead the forward-moving management of the municipality." The reason is not specified further.

However, Roger Buch does not believe this.

For Varde's current mayor Mads Sørensen (V) is not running for re-election in November. So if it were really about the municipality wanting a different profile to lead the municipality, it would have been more appropriate to wait half a year, says Roger Buch.

"If one wants a new mayor, it would obviously be more appropriate to let the incoming mayor be part of the decision about who should be the new municipal director. So there must be something very concrete and current that triggers the dismissal."

According to Roger Buch, municipalities almost always justify the dismissal of a municipal director by wanting a different profile. It has become a standard phrase, he explains. Sometimes it is true, but other times it covers up cooperation difficulties, and the municipal director has not done his job properly, he says. (Photo: © Soffi Chanchira Larsen)

-----------------------------------------

Costly to fire municipal director

-----------------------------------------

According to Roger Buch, it is relatively unusual to fire a municipal director. Especially since it is quite expensive.

"It typically costs around two million kroner to fire a municipal director, because they have some quite favorable severance packages. Typically they receive two years' salary," he said.

What does this say about the seriousness of the situation when such a decision is made?

"Two million is a very large sum in a municipality. If a party can achieve something for two million, it seems like a significant victory. So when one considers firing the municipal director, one obviously also considers whether one is willing to pay the high price for it," said Roger Buch.

The final decision on the municipal director's farewell to Varde Municipality will be made by the council later in the month. Henning Haahr Pedersen is currently relieved of duty.

DR has contacted Varde Municipality's mayor, Mads Sørensen (V), who has no comments on the matter. DR attempts to get a comment from Henning Haahr Pedersen and other members of the economic committee.

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=undefined)

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.