Wade fired with cause, denied severance pay

TOPEKA (KSNT) – The City of Topeka is no longer paying former City Manager Stephen Wade, after the governing body voted to fire him.

The city council voted unanimously to terminate Wade’s contract after an extensive executive session Tuesday night. Both a city spokeswoman and councilmember Spencer Duncan confirmed with KSNT 27 News that Wade was fired with cause. According to his contract with the city, this means he will not receive severance pay, which would have been six months of his $200,000 base salary.

“The Governing Body voted to terminate Stephen Wade’s employment with the City of Topeka for cause, meaning he is not entitled to severance.”

Gretchen Spiker, Director of Communications for the City of Topeka

Before termination, Wade was on an “extended leave of absence for an undisclosed amount of time,” according to Spiker. The spokeswoman confirmed that Wade was still being paid by the city, although both his contract and the city’s personnel manual indicate a leave of absence should go unpaid.

Now, less than a year after the governing body named Wade city manager, it will again go through a search and hiring process for a new leader. Richard Nienstedt was named the acting city manager when Wade went on leave and he will now serve as interim, according to the city.

Wade took the city manager job in September 2022, after a months-long hiring process.