Item C: City Manager Evaluation - Laserfiche WebLink

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The City's choice to delay and extend contract negotiations into October last year has had a very negative impact on employee moral. Financial information requested by the union was delayed and withheld for about 4 weeks. During mediation in October we meet for several long (18 hour) sessions only to learn that Taylor was "unwilling to move". The union team was 'spinning its wheels" trying to reach an agreement. In the end we argued over a COLA increase of 1.95% versus 2.00%. We came to believe that it wasn't about the money at that point. While we are unsure exactly what it was about, we wonder if Taylor considered the full impact this style of bargaining has on employee morale. Our contract symbolizes our relationship and value to the organization. The entire membership read it loud and clear--AFSCME employees are not worth a measly 0.05%. Is this really the message to be sending his employees? Is this how he leads, motivates, inspires and engages his work force? Do these tactics demonstrate that he considers employees to be a highly valued resource? We think not. We believe this approach undermines trust, confidence and morale. Taylor is fortunate to have a talented Labor Relations manager who has been able to regain some level of confidence and trust between us, but his message has come through loud and clear and continues to have a negative impact. Taylor chooses to be absent from discussions with the Union involving process change, service delivery and efficiency. We would like to see him take a leadership a role in these important discussions. His involvement would improve the understanding, confidence and trust the union has in his vision for our organization. While we do not expect him to participate at the committee level, we would like to see him demonstrate his support for labor/management collaborative efforts because it improves mutual trust, confidence in his leadership, and would likely foster creativity, enthusiasm for change and efficiency in service delivery. What concerns us is Taylor's approach to labor/management relations over the past year. We would like to see him in the next year forge a stronger, more collaborative relationship with city employees. The City Manager and all city employees share ~a common interest in efficiently delivering high quality services to the citizens of Eugene. The City Manager, by forging a strong working relationship with city employees can realize this goal. We believe that the City is at its best when employees trust and support the City's leadership and vision. We are optimistic that we will see significant improvement in the future.