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09/28/1992 CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL WORK SESSION CITY ATTORNEY AND CITY MANAGER EVALUATION September 28, 1992 The City Commission of the City of Clearwater met at City Hall with the following members present: Rita Garvey Mayor/Commissioner Richard Fitzgerald Vice-Mayor/Commissioner Lee Regulski Commissioner Sue A. Berfield Commissioner Arthur X. Deegan Commissioner Also present were: Michael J. Wright City Manager (during CM evaluation) M. A. Galbraith, Jr. City Attorney (during CA evaluation) Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk City Attorney Commissioner Fitzgerald stated overall he gave the City Attorney an excellent evaluation for the period. He stated he believes the City Attorney takes pride in his work, does thorough legal research, and manages the office well. He stated the City Attorney stays within the budget. He felt the Attorney was very active in developing ordinances and he had effectively lobbied the State Legislature. He also felt the City Attorney had won his share of favorable outcomes in lawsuits. Commissioner Deegan felt the City Attorney had done well with his advice to the City Commission during the past year. He reviewed the Charter requirements for the City Attorney and stated he felt ordinances are provided in an excellent manner and the lawsuits had been handled well during this past year. He also felt that the Attorney had done well in recommending ordinances to keep up with state rules and other changes in the law. He stated he appreciated speedy follow-up to requests. He did have some trouble, however, with the City Attorney's interpretation of the Sunshine Law. He stated, overall, he is satisfied with the City Attorney's performance. Commissioner Regulski stated he concurred with most of what had been said. He stated the most significant thing about the City Attorney is that it is a staff function, not a line function. He stated substantial improvement had been made in the time it takes to prepare ordinances. He stated, in general, the City Attorney is functioning well, and gave him a very satisfactory rating. Commissioner Berfield stated she basically agreed with the previous comments, and that the City Attorney is doing very well regarding preparing ordinances. Her main concern was recurring problems through code enforcement, and asked that a way be found to handle this. She was also concerned when an item is up for discussion, the Attorney is not always fully prepared to render opinions when questions are asked. She stated the City of Tampa has had some assistance in order to streamline and reduce costs in their City Attorney's office. She stated, other than that, she felt the City Attorney was doing a great job. Mayor Garvey indicated she pretty much agreed with the comments that had been made. She did feel the City Attorney took pride in his work, and it had been a good year regarding lawsuits. She stated the only negative is his reluctance to set up his employees in a pay plan. She stated he did a satisfactory job. The City Attorney indicated he was overwhelmed with the good feelings. He stated he does take his job seriously, and he has made a career in public service. He stated he has tried to be a good staff officer, and he is getting along better with the current City Manager than his predecessor. Commissioner Deegan stated they needed to address the salary structure in the City Attorney's office. The City Attorney indicated the Charter does not really say who is to make a decision regarding the assistant city attorneys' salaries. He stated what the City Attorney makes should be a benchmark. He did indicate he had never seen a tool he felt was useful for evaluations of assistant city attorneys. Consensus was to bring this topic up for discussion at the next work session. It was also the consensus that the salary adjustment of the City Attorney would be discussed at Thursday night's meeting. City Manager Evaluation Commissioner Fitzgerald gave the City Manager a Very Excellent Rating. He stated the City Manger is competent and professional. He feels the Manager's strength is in financial management as shown is his improved budget and financial forecasting. The Manager has held the line on taxes, improved the gas system and provided fiscal stability. He stated the Manager has also strengthened employee relations and improved communication. He feels the Manager has worked diligently for downtown redevelopment. The City Manger has been responsible for significant advances in the availability of affordable housing. Community meetings were initiated to communicate with the citizens. The Manager's quick positive action in providing the Summer jobs program was praised. Commissioner Fitzgerald felt the Manger worked well with the Commission, was accessible to them as well and the public, improving communication on all levels. He stated the Manager has a positive attitude and a "can do" spirit. Commissioner Deegan stated the Manger has definite achievements for which he deserves to be applauded. He felt however, these were in the realm of "business as usual." He stated he wants the Manager to assist the City in moving in a new direction. He would like to see improved management systems established. He is disturbed by the Manger's attitude that suggestions brought forward are already being worked on when no reports of that work are provided. Commissioner Deegan expressed disappointment in the zero-based budget approach and requested other communities be contacted to determine what they are doing to eliminate line-item budgeting to allow flexibility. He stated there are some areas on which the City Manger needs to work: 1) being defensive when his recommendation is challenged; 2) problems with handling the Economic Development Director; 3) not being a good negotiator and manager of the City's real assets; and 4) continue to improve on follow up to Commission requests. He stated that he reviewed the Commissions Goals and the City Manager's duties as contained in the Charter and feels the Manager needs improvement. Commissioner Regulski stated the Manager has accomplished some good points since taking over the administration of the City. He indicated morale has improved and budget control looks good. He expressed concern, however, regarding there consistently being a surplus at the end of the fiscal year. He also expressed concerns over negotiations, feeling the Manager needed to be a "hard nosed" representative of the City. He expressed concern regarding the Manager's obtaining consensus prior to taking a firm position on issues. He felt the Manager's reliance on consultants was his major flaw, passively accepting information provided, not critiqueing and evaluating it prior to submission to the Commission. Commissioner Regulski felt some good things had been lost in the transition of the Planning and Building Departments, i.e. the elimination of a plan review process with a check list. Overall he gave the City Manager a rating of average. Commissioner Berfield stated the Manager has done an excellent job in improving employee morale. She stated the Manger has an exceptionally good staff and that many of his accomplishments are due to them. She also expressed concerns regarding the Manager's negotiations indicating it was her feeling that the Commission is presented with what ever offer the other party presents. She indicated she has no problem with follow up on items. She agreed the Manager is a little defensive when not agreed with. She felt reliance on consultants gave the administration "a good out." The City has competent staff to handle much of the work done by consultants. She has a concern regarding the number of individual meetings the Manager has with Commissioners. She was also displeased with agendas being crammed with "hot" items and requested these be spaced out. She felt nothing new has been presented regarding downtown since the hiring of the Economic Development Director. She stated there needed to be a feeling that each and every Commissioner received as much attention as the others. Mayor Garvey stated the Manager has done a excellent job. She felt he is competent and professional and he has developed an excellent management team. She stated he has shown excellent financial management. She stated he has done an excellent job with employees. He also put together an affordable housing program and the Summer job program with the help of his staff. She feels the Manager does give the detail needed to the Commission and that he communicates well with the Commission and the public. She stated the Commission needs to remember they are the policy setters, not micro-managers. She also stated there is a need to develop a direction the Commission wants to go and if the majority of the Commission does not want something the City Manger can not do it. She felt the Manager's development of consensus made sense. She disagreed with comments made regarding his being passive and not a good negotiator. She did not feel there were too many meetings or that they were too long. She stated there are a lot of positive things going on in downtown. The City Manager stated he appreciated the comments that had been provided, and responded to some of them. In response to the concerns regarding responses to Commission requests, he stated there were some that had been missed an staff has now started a system to watch for them in order to make sure responses are provided. In response to concerns about his negotiating, he stated involving the Commissioners was an excellent idea. It is not uncommon for a City Manager to take an offer, and the City Commission to say whether or not the offer is acceptable, with further negotiations to take place. He stated every proposal presented to him is brought forward. He indicated one of his concerns in which he needs help is the Commission having five different agendas, and that he does not have a set of priorities. He stated he is incrementally tightening up the budget, and that a new finance system will improve budgeting. He apologized for being defensive and stated he is wanting to do what is right for Clearwater. He stated he needs a consensus on the direction in which the Commission wants to take the City. He felt goal setting would be very, very important, and it was hoped that would start soon. Commissioner Berfield expressed concerns regarding the method of the evaluation, and asked that also be discussed during goal setting. The City Manager's salary adjustment is to be discussed at the meeting Thursday night (10/1/92).