CC Minutes - 03/16/98 Work Session

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Mr. Corey described the process he followed in developing the performance document, which includes Mayor/Councilor perspectives on the performance of the Eugene City Manager (Section I), executive staff and employee association perspectives on the performance of the Eugene City Manager (Section 2), and written performance evaluations of the Eugene City Manager prepared by the Mayor and councilors (Appendix A). He emphasized that his role was not to evaluate City Manager Vicki Elmer's performance but rather to synthesize the evaluations of others and to communicate them to the council. Mr. Corey added that he worked diligently to make sure the end product fairly reflects the judgements of those evaluating Ms. Elmer. Mayor/Council Perspectives on the Performance of the Eugene City Manager At Mr. Corey's request, City Attorney Glenn Klein distributed copies of Section 1. Mr. Corey reviewed the Mayor and City Council's perspectives on Ms. Elmer's performance from February 1997 to February 1998, using a written evaluation instrument prepared and approved by the council in May 1997. He explained the rating scale and asked each council member to reflect on their written evaluations, clarifying and elaborating key elements. Several councilors pointed out weaknesses in the evaluation form itself. Mr. Tollenaar said the elements of mayor-council/city manager relationships, leadership, and change management were most important to him, adding he believed the "free form" overall comments should be given special consideration. Mr. Meisner said he was not sure that any elements were more important than others--calling the interconnectedness of those elements a "seamless web." Ms. Nathanson said the questions on the evaluation form did not work well for explaining her growing concerns about the new council committee structure and the City's relationships with its intergovernmental partners. Mr. Lee described his approach as identifying themes and patterns in the manager's performance. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said it would have been helpful to have the manager's self- evaluation and those from the executive staff earlier in the process. Mr. Laue said key elements for him were leadership, personnel management, and financial management. Mr. Farr described his approach as balancing the areas he sees as the manager's strengths with her weaknesses and deciding which are most important to the community. Mayor Torrey said he referred to his September 1997 evaluation of the manager and assessed progress in three specific areas: leadership, personnel management, and change management. Mr. Meisner said he also referred to his fall evaluation, but will base his evaluation on more updated information, including input from 340 City employees. A summary of Table 2 of Section 1 of the document reflects strengths in the areas of positive outlook, financial management, and prudent use of City resources. Weaknesses included service delivery/operations, mayor and council support, change management, personnel management, community and citizen relations, and leadership. (Please refer to the performance evaluation documents for more detail.) Executive Staff and Employee Association Perspectives on the Performance of the Eugene City Manager Mr. Corey distributed Section 2 of the document containing the perspectives on the manager's performance by executive staff and representatives from the four employee associations. He indicated that the perspectives were gathered during 45-minute interviews with each person and Minutes--Eugene City Council March 16, 1998 Page 3 5:30 p.m.