The news of City Manager Ted Jankowski’s departure and the terms of his severance will no doubt cause some frustration among South Portland residents.

After eight months on the job, Jankowski resigned abruptly last week – not quite two weeks after the City Council did an early review of his job performance behind closed doors on May 14.

Jankowski isn’t leaving empty handed. He will receive $43,600 in severance compensation, which includes four months of regular salary, 77.5 hours of accrued vacation time, four months of health insurance coverage and the balance of an account for moving expenses.

The news raises a couple of significant questions. If Jankowski is resigning, why is he receiving such a generous severance package? His contract calls for two months of severance if his employment is terminated and no severance pay if he resigns voluntarily. The second important question is: How can the city avoid a mess like this in the future?

In response to the former, citing confidentiality laws, city officials said little this week. Asked whether Jankowski had been forced to resign, Mayor Claude Morgan said, “I wouldn’t comment on that.”

City Councilor Jim Soule said, “All I know is that he is getting (the payout). I can’t comment further.”

The lawyer who drafted the severance agreement, Geoffrey Hole at Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, was even less helpful. “I am not going to have any comments in any direction,” he said.

Regardless of the reason for the large payout, the city has but one direction to go in at this point – forward, this time with the benefit of experience. South Portland, after all, hasn’t had much experience hiring managers in recent years. Jankowski’s stint with the city came after two administrators – Jeff Jordan and Jerre Bryant – spent years in the job.

As the city proceeds in its search to find a new manager, councilors should examine the process that led to hiring Jankowski and ask whether it can be improved. Should more people from a greater diversity of perspectives be involved in the interview process? Should the city delve deeper into the backgrounds of the top contenders for the position?

Jankowski had two short tenures on his resume. He spent seven months as assistant city manager and chief operating officer for Worcester, Mass., before resigning abruptly in 2006. Before that, he had resigned from a job as the chief executive officer of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board after a little more than a year on the job there.

In the short term, South Portland seems to be in capable hands with Assistant City Manager James Gailey filling in as acting city manager. However, in the long term, the city needs to find some stability after what has unquestionably been a tumultuous period for anyone working at South Portland City Hall. The city should take as long as it needs to find a candidate who can bring that to City Hall.

Brendan Moran, editor