Why Should Delaware Care?
Kent County voted to fire its former administrator months after he reported a potential conflict of interest among county commissioners to Delaware’s Public Integrity Commission. He testified in front of those commissioners in late 2024 to make the case that his firing was retaliatory.
The Kent County Levy Court will pay its former county administrator, Ken Decker, at least $350,000 over the next two years, after he was fired following he made complaints to a state ethics board.
In a settlement agreement, which Spotlight Delaware obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request, the county agreed to place Decker on paid administrative leave until the end of February 2027.
Kent County declined to give a specific dollar amount that it will pay Decker over this time period, and the settlement doesn’t give an exact figure either.
The agreement comes after a monthslong feud between Decker and Levy Court Commissioners, which almost boiled over into a wrongful termination lawsuit.
A settlement between Decker and the county will bring closure to an issue the county would have rather kept under wraps and out of the hands of a judge.
To keep it from causing further headaches for the county, the settlement places Decker and the county under a mutual non-disclosure agreement (NDA), where each agrees to not disparage each other.
Neither party admits wrongdoing in the case despite the settlement agreement.
The settlement terms
Kent County Levy Court commissioners approved Decker’s settlement agreement after an hours-long meeting on Dec. 17. Spotlight Delaware received a copy of the settlement on Jan. 8.
The agreement spells out the different compensation that Decker will receive in the coming years, including retained access to his pension and a six-month severance package.
It also states that Decker will be placed on administrative leave from Sept. 24, 2024, the date of his termination, to Feb. 28, 2027. Decker will not continue to work for the county while on leave.
Decker’s salary was $122,658 in 2023, according to a report from Delaware Online/The News Journal based upon its own FOIA requests, meaning the county will pay him at least $367,974, if they pay based on that salary.
Kent County declined to give Spotlight Delaware Decker’s salary in 2024, but the news organization currently has a pending FOIA request to get that number.
The county cited its refusal on advice from its attorney.
Following his administrative leave and severance, Decker will be entered into the county’s retirement pension system. The settlement will also cover all of Decker’s legal fees, which will cost Kent County up to $15,000.
Decker’s settlement also places him into a non-disclosure and disparagement agreement with this county, where he’s barred from sharing the details of the agreement with the media.
Kent County is still searching for a new, full-time county administrator, meaning taxpayers will be on the hook for two administrators until nearly to the end of 2027.
What led to this?
Decker served as county administrator for less than two years before he was fired. In the role, Decker served Kent County’s chief administrative officer who handled day-to-day operations and oversaw many of the county’s employees and departments.
He came into the job with previous experience as an administrator in neighboring Caroline County, Md.
But a few months into his tenure, votes where a county commissioner may have had a conflict of interest were brought to his attention. The conflict went unreported for nearly a year, until Decker sent a letter to Delaware’s Public Integrity Commission (PIC).
The conflict in question concerned Kent County Levy Court Commissioner George “Jody” Sweeney, and his involvement with the POLYTECH School District, which operates the county’s career and technical education high school.
In his letter to the commission, Decker said he brought his concerns to the Levy Court President Terry Pepper, as well as Sweeney in April 2023, but wanted to stay out of any kind of investigation.
But those concerns went unchecked, as Sweeney would later vote to renew a nominal, $1 lease on a property the county leased to the POLYTECH School District. The building sits outside of the Dover Air Force Base and is used as part of POLYTECH’s aircraft maintenance program.
Following its own investigation into the matter, the PIC determined Sweeney had a conflict of interest and ruled he must recuse himself from further votes surrounding the school district. Yet the PIC lacks any kind of teeth to enforce such a ruling, and many of its decisions are advisory.
Decker would share the findings of the PIC with all of the Kent County Commissioners, which Sweeney decried in an email to Decker.
“Just to be clear, the ‘opinion’ of the Public Integrity Commission is private and confidential, and should not have been shared with anyone BUT you, as the applicant, the county attorney, and myself,” Sweeney wrote to Decker. “You sharing it with Levy Court Commissioners is a violation of my rights and confidentiality.”
In a nearly empty chamber three months later, Decker would be fired. Yet on the night of his firing, Decker argued commissioners did not follow proper protocol nor was he given a public hearing to defend himself.
That public hearing would happen in early November, more than a month after he was fired. At that time, Decker and his attorney argued that the termination was retaliation for his complaints to the PIC.
Decker’s hearing would end without much action, and with limited people coming to show support during public comment. Decker’s attorney, Dan Griffith, said this was because commissioners did not slot a public comment period into the original agenda, and added it at the last minute.
“Mr. Decker never got the opportunity to advise people who would come here and provide comment on his behalf that they are entitled to do that, because according to the agenda, there was no public comment,” Griffith said.
In a final statement before he was bound by the terms of his NDA, Decker reflected on his time as administrator. He added he was pleased with the outcome of this issue, as neither he nor the county had to be dragged into a legal feud.
But overall, Decker would say he’s grateful for his time and experience in Kent County.
“Public service is a privilege, not an entitlement. So is leadership,” Decker wrote. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity I was given, and I wish the county success as it moves forward under a new administration.”
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