The city of Colorado Springs will honor the terms of a $1.15 million separation package for the former CEO of Memorial Health System rather than battle it out in court.After an hours-long closed legal session Monday, City Council President Scott Hente said the council came to a “consensus” to direct the City Attorney’s Office not to fight the controversial severance agreement approved by the previous Memorial board.“We find this action personally and professionally distasteful and repugnant,” he said of the previous board’s decision to approve the separation package.Hente said the council felt that a court challenge could expose the city and taxpayers to “lengthy bills potentially in excess” of the agreement with Dr. Larry McEvoy.“I will personally tell you that I don’t like the decision now,” Hente said.“There’s a part of me that says, ‘We’ll continue with legal fees. We’ll continue to fight this. We’ll continue to do the right thing. We’ll continue to fight the good fight,’” he said. “But at some point, I’m jeopardizing taxpayer dollars to do that, and that’s not being fiscally responsible on my part.”The separation package for McEvoy includes $1 million in severance pay, a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid that he used on the job and $20,000 to help him find a new job.Under McEvoy’s original 2008 employment agreement, he was entitled to receive six months’ severance, or about $335,000, if he lost his job without cause.The terms of the new agreement ignited a wave of public opposition and prompted the council to replace Memorial’s Board of Trustees with a new board.“I still wish I knew the motivation of the previous board, and I don’t,” Hente said.Former Board Chairman Jim Moore signed the terms of the agreement April 19, four days before presenting it to council in closed legal session. Moore has said that the signed term sheet constituted a legally binding contract, and he signed the final agreement the night before the council removed the trustees from their seats on the board.When Moore presented the separation package to council in executive session, Hente said Moore only disclosed that McEvoy was poised to receive 18 months’ severance.“None of the other items were brought up. That’s my memory,” he said.Still, council members didn’t raise any objections at that point.Hente said he’s asked himself “100 times since then” why he didn’t object.“You’d have to ask the other eight what their impression was. I think mine was because it caught us so off guard,” he said. “You get a stunning piece of news and you don’t even know how to react and by the time you think about it, events have moved on. I know that’s not probably a pretty good answer but … it was such a total surprise I think we were kind of shell-shocked maybe. I’ve been thinking about that a lot over the last couple of weeks.”Hente said he didn’t know whether the council could have put a stop to the separation package April 19.“The answer is maybe, maybe not,” he said.Memorial, an enterprise of the city, disclosed the terms of the agreement the following week, sparking a firestorm of controversy and public outrage.Hente said he and council President Pro Tem Jan Martin met with Moore and Vic Andrews, the board’s former vice chairman, on April 28, a Saturday, to express the community’s opposition.“I don’t think Jan and I could have expressed ourselves any stronger,” he said.Hente said he was hopeful at that point that “we might get some resolution.”But on April 30, the board voted 8-1 to reaffirm the separation package.At 7:15 p.m. that night, Moore signed the final agreement and closed the deal.Memorial has already paid McEvoy six months severance – or $335,000 – under the terms of his original 2008 contract.“Memorial has honored the ‘termination without cause’ section of Dr. McEvoy’s original 2008 employment agreement. Specifically, Memorial paid Dr. McEvoy six months severance ($335,004.80) and the value of his accrued paid time off (221 hours valued at $71,159.53).In addition, Memorial will pay his COBRA benefits for six months,” Memorial spokeswoman Cari Davis said in an email to The Gazette.“The check was issued on May 17,” she said.

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