City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee

City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee 10 N. Division St., Room 112, First Floor Battle Creek, MI 49014 Friday, August 16, 2013 1:00 p.m. Committee Members Present: Mayor Susan Baldwin, Comm. Walters, Vice Mayor Fulton, and Comm. Gray (1:07 p.m.) Committee Members Absent: None Staff Present: Ken Tsuchiyama, Jim Ritsema, Susan Bedsole, and Russ Claggett Call to Order: Mayor Baldwin called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m. Public Comment: None Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Comm. Walters, supported by Vice Mayor Fulton, to approve the meeting minutes of August 12, 2013, as presented. All yes. Motion carried. Discussion Mayor Baldwin summarized the committee's work to date and then discussed the proposed report to the Commission she created. She indicated it incorporated those items previously listed in the City Manager's Action Plan, a narrative of all action by the committee, a summary of the surveys, and a couple added action items not previously listed. Mayor Baldwin also noted she recently found a previous employee satisfaction survey that the City may want to send out again. Comm. Gray asked what the employee satisfaction survey was. Mayor Baldwin responded the City used to send out a large survey to employees, but has not done so in a long time. Comm. Gray inquired as to the specificity of the section regarding Policies, stating she assumed the policies were already in place. City Manager Tsuchiyama indicated there were policies already in place, some written, some were not but staff was aware of the policy. Mr. Russ Claggett, Employees Relations Director, indicated salaried personnel do not have set hours; therefore, many have done outside work during what are considered regular business hours for the City. Vice Mayor Fulton asked if all policies could be in writing. Mr. Tsuchiyama stated the policies, if not written, could easily be written. He further stated many times there is an agreement between the employee and their supervisor. Comm. Gray stated the agreement between the supervisor and employee should be in writing. Comm. Walters said he is concerned with a city employee in uniform, in a City car, privately teaching because the residents need to know the employee are not using City time. 1 Mayor Baldwin said she expects salaried employees to have fairly regular hours. Mr. Claggett said the City can require salaried personnel to do things differently than in the private sector. Vice Mayor Fulton agreed stating more regular hours is better because the perception is often negative. Comm. Gray stated she cannot imagine this issue is not new, so what have the policies been. Comm. Walters said while he was employed at the City, he took time off if he had a personal engagement, when he was an hourly employee. Comm. Walters said the past surveys should act as a basis for goals in the future. Mayor Baldwin suggested that be addressed at the retreat. Comm. Gray said the Commission cannot list everything as a goal, need to narrow to the top five or so. Mayor Baldwin said although she used specifics in the Policy section of the report, it can be tweaked to be more general guidance and policies. Comm. Walters asked the Employee Relations Director if there was a form for outside employment. Mr. Claggett responded the employee is required to inform the City, but there is not an actual form that must be completed. Mr. Tsuchiyama agreed there wasn't a form, usually just a memo. Mayor Baldwin said having employees teach, for example, would be great, but the salary should come to the City. Mr. Claggett noted a police officer in uniform who is teaching is a recruiting tool for the City. Mayor Baldwin requested more information on the web site. Mr. Tsuchiyama reminded the committee one of the first duties of the new communications employee would be to develop a communication plan that would include the web site. Mayor Baldwin spoke regarding the strategic planning/visioning section of the draft report. She thought perhaps a staff member could help keep the Commission on track. She also asked Commissioners to provide topics for the retreat. Mr. Tsuchiyama indicated the last time the Commission had a goal setting session, it was shared with all staff. He said he was looking forward to these types of sessions so that he will have a better understanding of what is expected. He further stated those listed in the proposed report are more inward focused, versus the previous goal setting session which focused more on the community. Mayor Baldwin responded in agreement. Comm. Gray asked if there would be value in seeing if there were Commissioners that would work with staff to develop the retreat. 2 Mayor Baldwin agreed with the suggestion stating a working committee could be created. She indicated she would put this on the agenda for the next meeting. Mr. Tsuchiyama said we could reserve a location now since the retreat will be held in January. Mayor Baldwin said we wanted a space where there were tables and sufficient space for everyone. Comm. Walters asked about thoughts regarding having other staff answer questions. Mayor Baldwin agreed a working committee would be useful and would start that process at the next Commission meeting. Vice Mayor Fulton said it may be helpful to have on the web site small narratives about who citizens should call. Mayor Baldwin asked for confirmation the strategic planning/visioning section should be left in the proposed report. There was agreement the section should remain. Vice Mayor Fulton said communication is the most important issue. Mayor Baldwin asked if the committee wanted to take more time to review the proposed report. Mr. Tsuchiyama asked that some specific time frames be placed on the report for guidance. Mayor Baldwin said that those items that were staff related should be accomplished around 30 days after the Commission completes it work. Comm. Gray asked that the amended proposed report be sent around before the next Commission meeting. Mayor Baldwin next spoke about the Visibility and Direct Contact section. Mr. Tsuchiyama indicated it was very challenging with our type of operations to gather people together. Comm. Gray suggested the City Manager attend some of the staff meetings being held by each department. Mr. Tsuchiyama indicated there is an organizational manager's meeting every month. Comm. Gray suggested that one or two times a year is all that is expected. Mr. Tsuchiyama said he would work to improve those contacts. Comm. Walters noted he remembered past city managers used to come to line-up or go on a ride along. He also noted doing this with only one person would spread throughout the department and being seen is important. Lastly he stated the positives that would come out of it would be amazing. 3 Vice Mayor Fulton also suggested that the City Manager could, on his own schedule, simply visit a department. Mayor Baldwin asked the City Manager to add a schedule to the proposal. Mr. Tsuchiyama said he would send out a communication to all employees indicating the new priority. Mayor Baldwin asked when the last time was an employee survey was done. Mr. Tsuchiyama responded it was in the 1990's. He further stated the employees were not happy with completing multiple or lengthy surveys. Mr. Tsuchiyama said perhaps once a year would be better. Vice Mayor Fulton suggested conducting a survey on what to actually survey, the top three ideas. Mr. Tsuchiyama said the site and facility visits will help determine what should be on the survey. Mayor Baldwin asked for confirmation that the Visibility section remain in the proposal. The committee agreed. Mayor Baldwin said the Commission should receive all of the survey results and the updated proposal. She asked the committee if it wished to make a recommendation now or move it to the entire Commission. Comm. Gray felt the committee should make a recommendation. Vice Mayor Fulton responded saying each Commissioner could state their opinion during the actual vote. Comm. Gray stated the City Manager's performance has entitled him to the 2% wage increase, and the recommendation would also include the action items. She further stated the City has done, through his leadership, very well in the economic development area. Also the collaborations have gone very well, through his leadership, and the survey reflects those. For those reasons his performance has been satisfactory. Vice Mayor Fulton asked if Comm. Gray felt the 2% increase was warranted based on those items she had listed. Comm. Gray said those were some of the examples, the larger ones. Comm. Walters said he is not convinced he would support a wage increase based upon the survey results. The safety of our residents is the top priority and over the past year that does not seem to be the priority. He noted he would reluctantly consider a 1% increase. Mayor Baldwin responded saying she understands, but looking at the organization as a whole, there have been many successes. She is looking at it more broadly and also how we compare to other communities we fair very well. Therefore, she would support a wage increase. Vice Mayor Fulton agrees there has been a lot of improvements in the City, but she is taking into consideration what the residents have been saying, especially the small business owners. She stated the residents do not feel like they are getting any support. Safety is a top priority and, for example, the 4 change in the snow plowing policy. Based on all of the surveys, and what the residents have said, she cannot support a wage increase. Mayor Baldwin said that since the recommendation was divided among the committee members, all of the information would be provided to the Commission, including the minutes. Comm. Gray asked for clarification from Vice Mayor Fulton, if she would consider a 1% increase. Vice Mayor Fulton said she would not support any increase. Comm. Walters stated he suggested 1% because they had identified some concerns, but a plan has been developed to address those concerns. Mr. Claggett said based upon Mr. Tsuchiyama's contract, the Commission cannot give less than the 2% increase if his evaluation is satisfactory. Comm. Gray wanted to make it clear she was taking the residents opinions in mind, but she is conflicted since the surveys were so diverse. She further stated the Commission has not done its job by giving the City Manager goals and how can the Commission hold him accountable. Comm. Gray said the City has not fallen apart, it's fiscally sound, and our residents are safe; can we do better, yes, but to say the City Manager’s performance is not satisfactory when the results are so inconsistent, does not seem fair. Further, she stated she struggles since she hears from residents there are concerns, but we are clearly working to move forward and be responsive. Comm. Walters said he looked at the past surveys and the scores have gone down. He further stated looking at the past year, there have been issues and perhaps that is why they are lower. Comm. Gray said there is a disconnect and inconsistency between the Commission results and other two surveys. Vice Mayor Fulton said she has a good relationship with the City Manager, and she looked at the surveys, but she gave the most weight to the residents. Lastly she stated the surveys are beneficial to the City Manager. Mayor Baldwin said she looks at our fiscal state, bond rating, etc., although she recognizes there are other issues. She noted she would update the proposal and provide it to the committee. Comm. Gray requested that electronic versions be sent in addition to the hard copies. Mayor Baldwin indicated the following items would be provided to the full Commission: City Manager contract, surveys, minutes, cover memo, survey comparison (chart) with narrative summary. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 2:47 p.m. SEB 5