This Idaho city council member resigned to collect his state pension. Here’s what happened
On a rainy Monday morning, former Caldwell City Council member Brad Doty was volunteering downtown at Indian Creek Plaza to help set up the iconic ice skating rink.
Doty retired from his job with the Idaho State Police in September, but to collect the pension that he had been paying into for nearly 30 years, he also had to resign his City Council seat.
Doty retired from the council on Sept. 29 and hopes to regain his seat around Nov. 1. That is because of a state law that requires that any employee who retires who was paying into the Public Employees Retirement System of Idaho must resign from all other PERSI jobs for 30 days to receive the pension.
Doty said he plans to ask Mayor Jarom Wagoner to reappoint him.
“It’s not guaranteed, that’s the key,” Doty told the Idaho Statesman on Monday by phone. “I can ask him to reappoint me, and then the council has to vote on that request from the mayor. And that’s how I’m able to come back after this 30 days.”
In an email, Char Jackson, city spokesperson, said Wagoner “does not plan on holding interviews for Doty’s seat,” meaning he plans to reappoint Doty at the end of the 30-day period.
Idaho law requires that an employee retiring from a job with PERSI pension benefits must completely be severed from PERSI and not continue employment with another PERSI employer. A retired member of law enforcement must wait 30 days before being employed by a job with PERSI benefits, and any other retiring member must wait 90 days.
Council members in Caldwell make $4.90 an hour, according to the Idaho Statesman salary database. They are eligible for PERSI pensions.
Doty, 51, was a major with the Idaho State Police for 29 years and made $63.38 an hour, or almost $132,000 annually, just before he retired.
He was elected to the council in 2021.
This is not Caldwell’s first time dealing with the issue. In 2016, City Council member Chris Allgood resigned from the council for 90 days following his retirement from the Caldwell Police Department. The 30-day requirement for law enforcement wasn’t in effect until 2021, Doty said.
Doty is “frustrated” with the law.
“I don’t know why we wouldn’t want valuable people in our community to continue to serve,” he said.
He thinks the reason why the law hasn’t changed is because the situation doesn’t happen to a lot of people.
“It’s just unfortunate that people who know how state government works, or how city and county governments and budgets, we tell them, ‘Yeah, but we don’t want your services.’ And that’s really unfortunate,” he said.
Doty plans to send Wagoner an email about Nov. 1 to ask for reappointment. For now his seat, No. 1, is vacant.
