El Dorado County schools chief gets $125,000 to resign after two DUI arrests

El Dorado County schools chief Jeremy Meyers received a $125,000 buyout package this month for resigning after being arrested twice on suspicion of drunken driving.

In exchange for stepping down Nov. 14, Meyers will receive a lump sum payment equal to his salary through June 2016 – $114,821 – minus taxes and other withholding items, according to a copy of the agreement obtained late Monday through a Public Records Act request. The El Dorado County Office of Education also will pay Meyers a lump sum of $10,930, equal to his medical, dental and life insurance benefits through June.

The deal was negotiated by attorneys for Meyers and the El Dorado County Board of Education after the superintendent’s Nov. 5 arrest. Meyers was taken into custody after he crashed his truck into a utility box around 2 p.m. and allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than twice the legal limit, according to the California Highway Patrol.

“I think it is preposterous that someone that resigns in shame should be soaking the taxpayers for that amount of money,” said Cris Alarcon, a longtime El Dorado County resident and community activist who previously called on Meyers to step down.

Buying out the contracts of school district administrators who have fallen out of favor is common, especially when school boards want to avoid litigation, said education lobbyist Kevin Gordon. But this case is unusual because Meyers is an elected official and had no contract that guaranteed his pay over a specific period of time.

What Meyers had was the power to remain in office despite his second arrest in five months on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. The Board of Education had no authority to remove Meyers unless he was convicted of a felony, was recalled from office, was mentally or physically unable to carry out his duties or moved out of the jurisdiction, according to the state government code. Meyers faces four misdemeanor charges, but no felonies.

The Board of Education said Tuesday in a statement that the separation agreement is in the best interest of the El Dorado County Office of Education: “As an elected official, the county superintendent was legally entitled to complete the remaining three years of his term of office, and any legal or other challenge to the county superintendents right to continue in office would have been potentially expensive and lengthy.”

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