City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee

City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee 10 N. Division St., Room 302A Battle Creek, MI 49014 Wednesday, June 8, 2016 2:00 p.m. Committee Members Present: Vice Mayor Susan Baldwin, Commissioners Andy Helmboldt and Kaytee Faris Committee Members Absent: Mayor Dave Walters Staff Present: Rebecca Fleury, City Manager: Nancy Mullett, Labor Attorney: Vicki Houser, City Clerk Call to Order: Comm. Helmboldt called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. Public Comment: None Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Comm. Faris, supported by Comm. Baldwin, to approve the April 13, 2016 City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee minutes, with spelling corrections to “MEDC” and Ms. Fleury “stated” and “PASER”. All yes, none opposed. Motion approved. City Manager Progress Update Comm. Helmboldt noted he received no input from Commissioners regarding the update Ms. Fleury provided. Ms. Fleury stated it was helpful to add the column for staff responsible. Ms. Fleury requested clarification regarding which managerial competencies they wanted moved into which goals. Comm. Helmboldt stated he instead felt it might be better to indicate a goal as “on going”, keeping Managerial Competencies where they currently are. Comm. Faris expressed her preference that a goal, although on-going, should still have an update on specific progress. Ms. Mullett suggested it might be beneficial to leave the update portion blank in a particular area if there was not any activity, helping to draw attention to the goal and to determine if it may need to be revisited. Ms. Mullett also suggested reconsidering if something should truly be considered a good goal or competency if there is not much action on it. Comm. Helmboldt suggested columns for each bi-monthly update, to see the progress as a whole, but expressed concern the document may become too lengthy, recommending it start with the following year’s update report, keeping this year’s reporting as is. Vice Mayor Baldwin suggested a date be added after each update to identify continued progress, providing the information while allowing the Commission to monitor how often progress is being made. Comm. Helmboldt stated there would only need to be one notation in the status column. Committee Discussion: Committee members discussed the timing for the City Manager Evaluation surveys, with the follow up meetings for review, consideration and recommendation for the City Manager bonus to the Commission. Committee members agreed the surveys should go out to staff and community leaders at the end of July, then provided to the Commission along with their surveys by August 19, 2016. Committee members directed the Staff and Community Stake holder surveys be sent out by July 27, 2016, with a due date of August 9, 2016, to be available for the Committee to review on August 10, 2016. The Commission survey is to be sent to the Commission by August 19, 2016, with a due date of September 2, 2016. An additional meeting of the City Manager Evaluation Committee was to be held on September 7, 2016 for the committee to review the survey results. The Committee would provide a recommendation as to the bonus, to be presented to the Commission at the September 20, 2016 City Commission meeting. Ms. Mullett stated the comments received in the surveys are not subject to FOIA so long as the Committee has the discretion to fashion the recommendation, recommending they keep the process as was done last year. Committee members discussed a retreat/meeting of the full Commission to discuss the 2016/2017 goals in September, suggesting Peter Dams serves as the facilitator. Comm. Helmboldt and Ms. Fleury agreed to contact Mr. Dams via phone to discuss the retreat. 1 Committee members discussed future specific, identifiable goals, along with reviewing the managerial competencies which are ongoing. Committee members noted some goals were short term, while others were long term, some with end dates and some that will always be ongoing, with the “hottest” topics listed on the first pages. Committee members discussed the differences between the goals and managerial competencies, noting the goals are what is being done, while the managerial competencies relate to how things are done. Committee members agreed they could reconsider the format of the City Manager bi-monthly updates to better present the information so that the progress was easily evident and understood. Committee members inquired as to changing the bubbles. Ms. Fleury stated the bubbles rarely change, but the definitions of the bubbles could change. Committee members agreed a meeting facilitated by Mr. Dams would focus on the hot topics, while still considering the managerial competencies. Committee members felt a retreat with the Commissioners in non-election years was to review the current goals and competencies, adding or modifying the document. Committee members recommended a workshop prior to a Commission meeting, noting everyone would need to review the goals and be prepared with recommendations. Ms. Fleury asked if the majority of staff time should be devoted to the “hot topics,” also asking if a managerial competency be a “hot topic,” like the Capital Improvement Program, with a new timeline in place with scoring. Ms. Fleury noted the Capital Improvement projects could touch three of the bubbles. Comm. Helmboldt recommended the update include the hot topics, listing the bubbles (results) it fits under, knowing some projects may include many goals. The Committee agreed it was still important to have a meeting/retreat facilitator to ensure all Commissioners are provided ample opportunity to participate in the discussion. Committee members agreed Mr. Dams should review the update document prior to the work session so that he could make recommendations to the Commission. Committee members recommended a work session at 5:30 pm prior to the July 19, 2016 City Commission meeting. Next Meeting: August 10, 2016 at 2:00 pm in Room 302A. Adjournment: Comm. Helmboldt adjourned the meeting at 3:16 p.m. 2