City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee

City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee 10 N. Division St., Room 112, First Floor Battle Creek, MI 49014 August 2, 2013 2:00 p.m. Committee Members Present: Mayor Susan Baldwin, Vice Mayor Fulton, Comm. Walters, and Comm. Gray Committee Members Absent: None Staff Present: Ken Tsuchiyama, Russell Claggett and Vicki Houser Call to Order: Mayor Baldwin called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m. Public Comment: None Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Comm. Walters, supported by Comm. Fulton, to approve the meeting minutes of July 8, 2013, as presented. All yes. Motion carried. Discussion Mayor Baldwin noted Mr. Tsuchiyama sent a summary of the survey results and a memo to the Commissioners. Mayor Baldwin acknowledged the positive survey results from the City’s community partners and staff, noting the scores were consistently higher in these two groups than the Commission surveys. Mayor Baldwin noted the scores on the Community Partners survey averaged 4 points, and the Staff scores were 3 or higher, while the Commission scores were consistently 2’s. Mayor Baldwin also noted the survey comments were positive, often commenting on Mr. Tsuchiyama’s good working relationship with the City’s community partners and several comments from staff referred to the City’s good fiscal status, noting Mr. Tsuchiyama consistently treats his staff with respect and dignity. Mayor Baldwin stated that City staff and Commission survey results may differ from the Community partners as they do not work with Mr. Tsuchiyama daily. Comm. Gray noted the survey demonstrates the work Mr. Tsuchiyama has done to collaborate with our community partners, indicating a positive sign the relationships are growing. Comm. Gray also noted the survey indicated Mr. Tsuchiyama worked well with other municipalities, both local and state, noting collaboration with municipalities, often considering new opportunities. Comm. Walters noted the City of Battle Creek’s financial stability is good today, stating Mr. Tsuchiyama lead that charge, while other cities appear to be in worse situations. Vice Mayor Fulton stated it was good to see the positive relationships with our community partners, noting those relationships help the city grow. Comm. Walters suggested Mr. Tsuchiyama provide a guide with a specific person to communicate with, whether that is the Department Manager or a Communications person. Mr. Tsuchiyama noted the media usually attempt to contact the City Manager first, stating he will then refer them to a staff member with more specific details. Mr. Tsuchiyama noted the City identifies a 1 contact person when issuing media releases, stating reporters often contact the City Manager’s office regardless of the contact person indicated. Vice Mayor Fulton recommended a procedure be in place to let the Commissioners know who to refer concerns to. Mayor Baldwin stated prior years’ staff reductions has hindered the City’s response time to internal and external requests and inquiries. Mayor Baldwin also stated the Communications staff person may be able to assist with communication concerns. Mr. Tsuchiyama noted the City Manager’s officer had 2 staff positions eliminated, while 50 positions were eliminated City-wide in the last 5 years, resulting in additional duties for all staff members. Comm. Walters stated that he disagreed with the reduced staffing explanation, noting the Committee stated procrastination was an issue the prior year, providing as examples the issues with the weather warning sirens, lapse of performance evaluations and commendations for retired Police Officers Brandon Hultink and Ron Munster. Comm. Walters stated be believed Mr. Tsuchiyama often forgot some concerns that were presented to him, stating this was still an issue. Vice Mayor Fulton stated she agreed with Comm. Walters, noting she has not seen an improvement from the prior year. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated the majority of the time he is not procrastinating, it is more an issue of prioritizing requests, concerns and inquiries. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated that with the advent of electronic communication, the number of and complexity of issues has significantly increased over the last 5 years, noting the requests come directly to City staff, not through the Commission. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated safety and emergency issues are always a high priority, such as traffic signal problems. Mr. Tsuchiyama also noted that some requests or concerns require research by more than one department, noting delays occur when managers are out of the office for several days. As an example, Mr. Tsuchiyama noted that when Comm. Walters requested the commendations for the two retired Police Officers, he needed to clarify the details with Mr. Claggett and Chief Hampton, noting the Chief was out of the office, stating he addressed the concern when Chief Hampton returned from vacation. Mr. Tsuchiyama also noted that although this request was important, it was not a high priority as other more urgent issues took precedence. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated a log of inquiries and concerns may help with the follow up of requests. Comm. Gray stated she understood that her request for a “Duck Crossing” on North Avenue involved several other departments’ participation and had been delegated to other managers. Comm. Walters mentioned the reduction of scores from the 2012 City Manager performance survey in the City Commission portion. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated he had reviewed the prior year’s scores, noting he does not have enough information to determine why the scores are so different. Comm. Gray asked Mr. Tsuchiyama to address changes implemented to assure evaluations are completed consistently. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated the Human Resources staff do a good job of reminding managers to complete evaluations, whether pay adjustments are due or not. Mr. Tsuchiyama emphasized the managers’ 2 responsibility to continually provide feedback to staff so that there are no surprises during their reviews, thus allowing staff to continually improve their performance. Mayor Baldwin requested Mr. Tsuchiyama prepare an outline detailing how he will address the issues presented at this meeting, noting the processes and procedures to be put in place. Mr. Tsuchiyama agreed to prepare an outline for the Committee, requesting the Committee document their expectations and goals of him for the future, so that the expectations are not different in the coming year. Comm. Gray expressed her agreement, stating clear goals are a necessity for the end rating, noting also the priorities and the plans to address these priorities, so that the evaluation is fair. Comm. Walters stated the committee should also review the evaluations to see what will need to be addressed by both the committee and Mr. Tsuchiyama, to help ensure the goals are clear. Vice Mayor Fulton stated she agreed with both Commissioners, noting Mr. Tsuchiyama had some very strong points, stating it was important to see how concerns were prioritized. Vice Mayor Fulton expressed her concern that 29 out of 45 questions received a 3 or less on the Commission survey, inquiring as to why the ratings have changed so much in a year. Mayor Baldwin expressed her concern that while none of the survey scores for the Community Partners and the City staff fall below a “3”, the Commission scores are so low. Mayor Baldwin agreed there were issues that needed to be resolved, expressing her concern some Commissioners did not rate his performance on the whole picture. Mayor Baldwin noted the Community Partners’ scores were 4.5, and the City staff rated Mr. Tsuchiyama at 3.92, yet the Commission rated him at 2.44, stating she had a concern that the Commission was looking at this for another agenda as opposed to what they were actually doing in the City, stating the Committee cannot deny the high ratings from others. Comm. Gray stated she does not see the Commission survey being a reflection of all 9 Commissioners, expressing her belief that the low scores of a few have reduced the overall score, especially in comparison to the Community Partners ratings. Comm. Gray expressed her opinion that some Commissioners have specific concerns that while legitimate, are not a reflection of the whole Commission. Comm. Gray also stated she was having difficulty reconciling the low Commission scores with the other survey scores, especially as the City is doing so well fiscally. Comm. Gray expressed a concern the Commissioners were not recognizing what others had recognized. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated that he reviewed the scores, noting one Commissioner used a non-applicable for some questions, which had a .4 impact on the rating, as there were fewer Commission respondents compared to the Community Partner and City staff surveys, noting a few low scores can bring the overall rating down. Mayor Baldwin asked Mr. Tsuchiyama to provide a plan of action to address the concerns identified by the survey, noting the Committee needed to create a list of priorities to Mr. Tsuchiyama. Mayor Baldwin recommended the Commission participate in a retreat to discuss the issues, concerns and priorities for the City Manager. Vice Mayor Fulton and Comm. Gray agreed a retreat would provide a good opportunity for the Commissioners to discuss priorities and goals for the City Manager for the next two years 3 Comm. Walters expressed his disagreement with Mayor Baldwin, stating he does not believe some Commissioners have an agenda, stating that a workshop may be needed, recommending the survey results be scrapped. Comm. Walters stated he believed all 9 Commissioners took their time and responded honestly to the survey. Comm. Walters stated that the lower number of respondents to the Commission survey may have resulted in a lower score than the other surveys Comm. Gray stated it is difficult to reconcile the differences, noting all individuals see things differently, believing people were responding truthfully. Vice Mayor Fulton stated she believed everyone answered honestly, noting the Commissioners have different relationships and interactions with the City Manager than the other survey respondents. Vice Mayor Fulton hoped the responses took the entire year into consideration, not just a few positive or negative encounters. Vice Mayor Fulton stated she was offended that someone would think some of the Commissioners had an agenda. Mayor Baldwin reviewed the City Manager’s contract, noting a cost of living adjustment to the salary basis was subject to a satisfactory review, also allowing the Committee to recommend a performance based lump sum payment if desired. Comm. Walters questioned if the non-represented staff were given a wage increase or a cost of living increase. Comm. Walters expressed his frustration, stating the Commission discussed wages not cost of living increases. Vice Mayor Fulton stated she felt a cost of living increase was due to inflation, thus allowing the increase, stating she did not believed it was an adjustment to wages. Mr. Claggett stated it was treated as a cost of living increase, noting it was an adjustment to the salary schedule, not tied to inflation. Mr. Claggett stated that if the unions negotiated an increase, it would be an across the board increase for all members to each wage range, noting some union positions could reach the top of their range in 2 years. Mr. Claggett also stated the only way to apply the 2% increase for non-reps was to adjust the salary range, which could take up to 8 years to reach their top range. Mayor Baldwin stated the Committee needed to decide what to recommend to the City Commission Comm. Walters stated he would prefer to wait for Mr. Tsuchiyama’s plan before making his recommendation. Comm. Walters stated the timeliness of communications and the addressing of high priority concerns was a high expectation from the Commission, providing the emergency siren issue as an example. Mayor Baldwin confirmed with the Committee members that they were requesting Mr. Tsuchiyama provide an outline to address priorities and issues, including timely communications and the completion of annual employee evaluations. Mayor Baldwin recommended all Commissioners receive communications, then decide for themselves if it is a priority for them. Comm. Gray stated the Committee needed to provide Mr. Tsuchiyama with their expectations for communications, clarifying what issues needed to be communicated with the Commission. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated it has been difficult for staff to determine the expectations of the Commission collectively, as some Commissioner may want things differently. Mr. Tsuchiyama requested the Commission agree collectively on the expectations, noting that if changes are needed, they could use 4 the original as a basis. Mr. Tsuchiyama asked if the action plan should go to the full Commission, not just the Committee. Mayor Baldwin recommended the action plan go to the full Commission. Comm. Gray asked for clarification, that once the action plan was developed, did Mr. Tsuchiyama want additional input from the full Commission. Vice Mayor Fulton stated she felt the committee’s responsibility was to make their recommendation to the full Commission, noting they could provide recommendations for the Commission to consider. Mayor Baldwin stated that at this point, the committee was requesting Mr. Tsuchiyama prepare an outline or action plan for addressing the concerns that were addressed Mr. Tsuchiyama confirmed with the committee that they were requesting him to send communications to all of the Commissioners, allowing them to determine if the information was relevant to them. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated he was struggling with information that staff would deem confidential or time sensitive. Mr. Tsuchiyama confirmed the committee was requesting a plan for communications with the Commission, the means for setting priority to concerns. Comm. Gray stated Mr. Tsuchiyama’s communications usually indicated information that was time sensitive or confidential. Mayor Baldwin requested Mr. Tsuchiyama provide a clear cut procedure and set of contacts that should address issues or concerns. Mayor Baldwin stated the City Manager’s office provided a monthly topics communication in the past, noting it became more difficult with staff reductions. Mayor Baldwin summarized the meeting, stating the committee was requesting Mr. Tsuchiyama provide an action plan (or outline) to improve the issues that were discussed, and that the Committee was to set up goals and expectations from the Commission in the near future. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated he would have an action plan to the committee the following week. Committee members agreed to meet on Monday, August 12, 2013 at 11:30 AM in Room 112. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m. VLH 5