The former South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority president and CEO will be able to negotiate up to nine months of severance after leaving the position last month.

The severance for David Uran will be based on salary only, not benefits or bonuses, SSCVA Board President Andy Qunell said after the board voted unanimously to approve the negotiation at that body’s board meeting Thursday.

Uran announced his resignation Dec. 18 — effective Dec. 31 — after a Dec. 15 executive session where alleged misconduct was listed as the reason for the closed-door meeting.

Qunell said after the meeting that Uran being able to negotiate his severance was in his contract. But according to Uran’s contract that he signed in 2022, his employment “may be terminated by SSCVA immediately for cause,” in which “the employee shall be entitled to the compensation and all other benefits earned prior to the date of termination as provided for in this Agreement computed, prorated up to and including the date of termination.”

The contract may also be terminated by either party without cause “upon sixty (60) days’ notice in writing which shall identify the date of termination,” the contract reads.

If the SSCVA terminates Uran without cause, “SSCVA is obligated to pay Employee for an additional period of ninety-day (90) days. Employee’s current base salary and medical benefits,” it reads. “In addition, Employee shall be entitled to all accrued vacation, and other benefits prorated through the date of termination.”

The board also voted unanimously to install the CVA’s head of Human Resources, Nikki Lopez, as its interim president and CEO while it embarks on a “nationwide search” for Uran’s replacement, Qunell said.

Lopez, the former event director for Hobart who said she’s been the CVA’s HR director for nine months, will be paid the same salary as the organization’s chief operating officer instead of Uran’s salary, the board voted.

Uran earned $90,358.52 in base salary for the second half of 2022 after he resigned as Crown Point mayor, according to the most recent information on Gateway, Indiana’s public funding portal.

“We’ve been reevaluating the COO’s pay, and now (with hiring a new president and CEO), we have the opportunity to look at all the salaries to reevaluate what the market is bearing,” Qunell said.

In an offer letter Lopez signed in March the SSCVA offered her a starting salary of $67,600, an 11.2% employer contribution to her Public Employee Retirement Fund and health insurance monthly payments of $20 per paycheck for single coverage, $30 for single and spousal coverage or $40 for family coverage.

Lopez will stay on until the board conducts and hires from a “nationwide search” for which it’s hiring and outside firm, Qunell said. And the candidate may or may not be a local person.

“We’re looking for the best candidate we can get,” Qunell said.

Lopez, who said she sat on the SSCVA board for eight years prior to being hired on, is “very excited” for the opportunity and wants to continue working with the current and potential partnerships the organization has currently.

In year-end news, Lopez told the board the innkeeper’s tax netted $4.5 million, which included a 5% increase over the course of the year, and that the staff would be focused on HR “training, training, training for the rest of the month.

Chief Marketing Officer Heather Becerra told the board the “A Christmas Story: Ralphie Comes Home” event last month brought 2,800 visitors from 28 states to the Welcome Center even with inclement weather.

The movie cast told her the Hammond event “had the best turnout.”

Uran previously said the matter before the executive board was unrelated to his departure but couldn’t comment on personnel matters within the organization.

Qunell said the board extends its deepest appreciation to Uran for “his unwavering commitment and leadership.”

Uran was tapped in May 2021 to release former longtime head of the organization Speros Batistatos after the board of directors did not renew his contract.

Batistatos is suing the SSCVA board for wrongful termination.

The Post-Tribune has referred questions about Uran’s resignation to SSCVA attorney Scott McClure, who has not yet responded.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.