Item C: City Manager Evaluation - Laserfiche WebLink

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involved substantial unbudgetedfunds, the Manager put Council in an almost impossible situation by announcing the contract to the press before consulting with Council. 2. Dennis does look to Council for direction as a group. I appreciate knowing that conversations are in public meetings. 2. My experience with asking advice has been very positive although I would like to see a strong effort to get "out in front" of problems and challenges so as to avoid having to fix. I believe we need a strong public relations staff. 2. I don't know the experience of other councilors, but this is not true for me. Unfortunately, since it never happens, I don't even have an expectation that it should. 3. Good news: I'm not getting as many surprises when I open the newspaper as the previous year. However, there have still been instances of this. For example, last fall when problems came up with ORI building, the Mayor was informed but not the Councilors. I was disappointed when I brought this to the Manager's attention and his response was to say "What could you have done with the information if you received it?" Such a question is beside the point. 3. Dennis has worked at building relationships with Councilors. 3. The Manager is friendly and seems genuinely interested in familiarizing himself with my personal life and family. But in terms of a working relationship and helping to achieve goals important to constituents, there is no support from the Manager; and in some cases he can be a formidable obstacle to finding realistic solutions for problems faced by city residents. Policing in urban parks is one recent example. 4. After Council had a great strategic planning retreat in February, it took a lot of push-back from Council to get draft action plans brought to us before the fall. I was surprised that it seemed to be news to the Manager that we would like to get started with Council discussion of our strategic issues sooner than six months after our retreat. 4. There is a continued perception of Council being blocked from conversation with staff. 4. The Manager is not receptive to my analysis, strategy or ideas unless it is already part of his agenda. On a number of occasions, where he has strenuously disagreed with me, he has been publicly disrespectful and unprofessional. One example was my initiation of a policy that requires management to seek council approval for new transportation funding plans and packages before seeking MPC/MPO apprOval; a process that the Springfield Council and the County Commissioners already engage regularly. Dennis disagreed so vehemently that he lost his temper and raised his voice in the presence of various members and citizens. 5. There's an understandably delicate line between the Manager providing Council with his professional advice (which I very much want) and seeming to join the debate as if he were the ninth councilor. On several occasions this past year, I was dismayed when I felt the Manager had 7