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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMinutes - 05/26/04 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall May 26, 2004 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Gary Papd, Jennifer Solomon. A. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Pursuant to ORS 192.660(1)(i) the City Council Met in Executive Session to Discuss the City Manager Performance Evaluation B. WORK SESSION: City Manager Performance Evaluation Mayor Torrey called the work session of the City Council to order at 12:47 p.m. Ms. Bettman said City Manager Dennis Taylor had, overall, done a commendable job. She found it hard to believe he had only been with the City of Eugene for a year. She felt he had engendered the faith and trust of the community. She stated that she included specific issues and areas for improvement in her written evaluation. Ms. Bettman remarked that the City Manager had done well in helping to bring Eugene Police Department (EPD) Chief Bob Lehner on board. She declared him to be right for the community. She hoped that, as executive positions opened up, other people of the quality of Chief Lehner would be hired. With regard to council issues, Ms. Bettman felt that advocating for the community should be of utmost importance, as opposed to maintaining the status quo. Ms. Taylor affirmed that the City Manager had adapted well. She related that she enjoyed seeing Mr. Taylor at the Farmers Market on Saturdays. She acknowledged it was a difficult job, with nine bosses and many others to satisfy. She said she had, in her evaluation, given a high rating for his community involvement. She suggested Mr. Taylor talk individually with councilors about their job performance evaluations of him. Mr. Taylor indicated he planned to do so. Ms. Taylor reiterated her suggestion that there be running evaluations from every meeting in order to assess them. Ms. Taylor expressed concern regarding a lack of information and a perceived unwillingness on the part of staff to provide complete information. She related that at times she received feedback from a citizen regarding an issue, which she would pass on to staff, and then she would not hear anything more on it. She MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 26, 2004 Page 1 Work Session felt she needed to be kept in the loop in order to be responsive to her constituents. Mr. Kelly noted that his written comments provided more detailed feedback. He called the City Manager a ;;quick study" and expressed appreciation for his enthusiasm. He thought Mr. Taylor's community and citizen relationships were outstanding and that he had done a fine job of reaching out. Mr. Kelly opined the City Manager had been part of a shift toward more positive fiscal management. He hoped Mr. Taylor could help the council and community to engage in efforts to become more financially sustainable. Regarding Mayor and council support, Mr. Kelly thought there had been too many surprises and a lack of timely information. Ms. Nathanson commended Mr. Taylor for his ability to keep the organization moving ahead and working hard in a positive manner. She applauded him for this. She acknowledged the council, community, and organization asked much of him and he had risen to the challenge in a remarkable manner. Ms. Nathanson remarked that the City continued to show signs it was experiencing growing pains and that the feeling that there was a lack of access to information grew from this. She attributed this to the City Manager/Council structure of government, in that the councilors were part-time and not always present to be more aware of issues as they arose. Ms. Nathanson said Mr. Taylor projected enthusiasm, sincerity, and competence. She commented that he was smart and very capable of doing the job for which he was hired. Mr. Pap6 wished to emphasize the comment Mr. Kelly had made in which he called Mr. Taylor a ;;quick study." He commended the City Manager's energy in reaching out to both the community and the City organization. He noted there were almost no negative comments in the reviews submitted by employees. He related that the City of Billings, Montana had ;;raved" about Mr. Taylor. He believed that Mr. Taylor would improve in any areas in which it was suggested some improvement was needed. Ms. Solomon left the meeting at 1 p.m. Mr. Pap~ applauded the work the City Manager had done to help the council function more fluidly. He said the process sessions and consultant work had made the council a better body. Mr. Meisner stated that the City Manager had been exactly what he had expected from his conversations with residents of Billings. He said Mr. Taylor had the talent, the skills, the professionalism, and the ethics that had been sought in the city manager position. He commented that any qualms he had expressed in his individual evaluation were not about Mr. Taylor per se, but were about pieces of the organization. He hoped that Mr. Taylor's leadership skills would trickle down into the organization. Mr. Meisner commended the City Manager for his ability to say that things could be done or could be done differently, while the organization was not as open to movement. He underscored the importance of meeting the expectations of the public and not lowering those expectations. In closing, Mr. Meisner thanked Mr. Taylor for coming to Eugene and suggested he should stay ~a long MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 26, 2004 Page 2 Work Session time." Mr. Poling also thanked Mr. Taylor for coming to Eugene. He said he had been impressed by how Mr. Taylor had come into the community and taken on tough issues. He noted the first "night of reading" on the job was the budget. He felt he had done a good job of "thinking outside of the box" in the most recent budget deliberations. Mr. Poling thought the one-on-one meetings had been beneficial and was impressed by how the City Manager had found the time. Mr. Poling advised the City Manager to set expectations of when information requested by councilors would be provided. He noted the public had, in the past, a perception that the City government was inaccessible, but this seemed to be dissipating somewhat. He attributed this to Mr. Taylor's community outreach. Mayor Torrey stated that the success of City Manager/Council government was largely dependent on the job that Mr. Taylor was hired to do. He thought Mr. Taylor had done a "very good job." He believed the challenge would continue to be the implementation of council policy. He conveyed the council expectation that the City Manager would be there with his expertise to provide guidance in this policy-making. He commented that it would be "foolish" not to ask Mr. Taylor for input on decisions. He said the council could say no to a recommendation from the City Manager, but he should never hesitate to share his recommendations. Mayor Torrey complimented Mr. Taylor on his ability to take advantage of the strengths of the people around him, particularly the work he had done with Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson. He called it the strength of a leader to take advantage of the strengths of others. He commended Mr. Taylor for hiring Chief Bob Lehner. He advised him to listen to his instincts and to make decisions based on his wealth of experience and expertise. He concluded by saying that he was confident the City was in good hands. Mr. Taylor thanked the Mayor. He called his year of service as City Manager in Eugene the "most rewarding year" of his professional life. He felt embraced by the community and by the organization. He said it was an honor to be the City Manager and had been everything he had expected and more. He commented that he had underestimated how hard it would be to learn all that it took to be manager of Eugene. He had been challenged to "get up to speed" with the council, the organization, and the needs of the community. He related that he had tried to portion his work so that one-third of it went to each and that he had reached some proficiency so that he could meet expectations in the area of communication. He thought he would be better able to provide information in a timely fashion in the future as a result. Mr. Taylor remarked that he had not received such a thorough evaluation in his professional career. He commended Lauren Chouinard, executive director of the Human Risk and Resources Services, for designing and conducting the evaluation. Mr. Taylor expressed appreciation for the council's willingness to have process sessions and goal-setting sessions. He said the council and executive management had worked hard to develop goals, values, and principles. He averred they were working hard to be a shared responsibility team. He felt communication could be improved both inside and outside of the organization and said he would take this on as a challenge. He said productivity had been improved and the focus on customer service had helped. In conclusion, he MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 26, 2004 Page 3 Work Session looked forward to a long relationship with the community of Eugene. Mayor Torrey proposed the council president, vice president, and himself have a brief meeting about the compensation adjustment and return on June 9 for an official motion. The council indicated it was amenable to this. Mr. Kelly requested a second round. Mayor Torrey recognized him. Mr. Kelly repeated his concern regarding the timely dissemination of necessary information. He stated, in regard to executive management partnership, that he would rather see the City Manager control the abuses in use of staff time than to restrict access to staff. He felt the informal arrangement that existed previously had worked well. Mr. Kelly opined that the Planning and Development Department (PDD) was reactive instead of proactive. He wanted management to work to get the planners to "plan more." Ms. Taylor reiterated that she wanted more information and follow-up. She thought staff was sometimes evasive when asked for information. She opined that policy was sometimes decided by the executive managers. She thought management had decided to almost eliminate Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) without consulting the council. She stressed that it was up to the council to make policy. Ms. Nathanson hoped the City Manager would continue to inform the City Council and the Mayor on the strategic issues identified the previous September. She said in a time of declining resources relative to core services it was important to define what was essential. She suggested that, as new projects were identified, it was important to provide direction as to what should be cut or placed at the bottom of the list. Ms. Bettman conveyed her feeling that sometimes the City Manager was advocating strenuously on behalf of the executive managers without taking into consideration that the council was attempting to incorporate community values. She thought he should be more of a liaison between the City Council, community, and the organization. Ms. Bettman expressed appreciation for the proactive planning that had gone into the budget process. Mr. Pap6 conveyed his appreciation for Mr. Taylor's advice on issues. He wanted to hear strong recom- mendations for or against an option. Mr. Meisner agreed, but asked that the options for outcomes be fully presented. Mr. Kelly felt more community input should be more actively solicited. Mayor Torrey commented that it would be helpful to get a statement from legal counsel regarding the fire and emergency services at the airport. Mr. Taylor responded that it was not simple. City Attorney Glenn Klein said information could be provided, but a lot was dependent upon the particular issue. He stated that it was due in part to what was in the contract and the collective bargaining on this. Mr. Taylor noted that a legal opinion had yet to be produced on some of the council/staff issues. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 26, 2004 Page 4 Work Session Ms. Bettman commented that policy issues were up for discussion so it would be good to have a clear idea ofbargainable issues. Mr. Kelly suggested that there may be examples of similar situations in other communities. Mr. Taylor stated that the issue was forbearance. He said the issue brought before the council had grown out of a bargaining session wherein it had been one of several options. He repeated that he would have preferred not to have the council weigh in on an item until it had been resolved at the bargaining table. Mr. Meisner reiterated that the council had felt brought into it by a line item on the proposed budget that caused the Budget Committee to address it. Mr. Taylor said, in retrospect, he should have done this a different way. Mr. Meisner noted that staff had come before the council in the previous year to ask if janitorial services at the Library should be outsourced. The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) M.'2OO41Central Services DepartmentlCity CouncillccO40526rnl.docl MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 26, 2004 Page 5 Work Session