Sweet or Sour Severance

$65,170.

$71,398.

The first figure is the severance package received by Lori Barkema who recently resigned as director of the Cedar Rapids Public Library while the second is what Howard Collinson was awarded after he resigned as director of the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

Sweet if you're Barkema or Collinson. Sour if, as our country wallows through a recession, any money from your pocket helps support either of these organizations, whether that be taxes, voluntary donations or in-kind contributions.

I wish someone could explain to me how this happens. Why they received any money at all.

I mean these people "resigned." And they still get paid to leave? If you voluntarily leave your job, do you think your boss would pay you four-month's salary with all the benefits? For the vast majority of working Americans, the answer would be a resounding "No."

If you're fired, asked to leave or laid off, it might be a different matter. A rule of thumb often gets you one week's pay per year worked, so you'd receive four month's pay for 16 years of service. Barkema worked for the library about three years; Collinson for the museum a little more than eight years. It doesn't compute.

Sweet for them. Sour for the people who foot the bill.

And so, I think these stories bring up more questions than answers. We'll probably never get the real stories here, although, while Barkema has been unavailable for comment and city officials have said she got the money because she's a good negotiator, at least we learned that Collinson's departure was due to a difference in opinion about the future of the museum.

To be fair, we hear about this all the time in big business and sports. A CEO's behavior is questionable, so he's paid millions to leave. A coach turns in a losing record, gets fired, and still gets paid millions to look for another job. In fact, I'd be a millionaire if I pocketed a nickel every time I heard an armchair coach say they'd like a shot at the job and, even if they failed, they could retire on a year's salary.

Also, to be fair, Barkema and Collison didn't receive enough money to retire. But what they did get is certainly enough to ease the transition to another job at a level most workers can't even dream about.

Sweet. And sour.