Worcester committee asks administration to consult Mass. Municipal Association on city manager evaluation

The Municipal & Legislative Operations Subcommittee of the Worcester City Council on Jan. 28 directed the city administration to contact the Mass. Municipal Association for examples and best practices to create a more structured evaluation process for the city manager.

Committee Chair Councilor Morris Bergman made the chairman’s order after councilors and members of the public urged a clearer, rubric-based evaluation form. The action came amid public criticism of the city manager’s handling of constables and other personnel matters raised during the meeting’s public-comment period.

The request for outside assistance follows related orders and petitions filed by multiple councilors asking the committee to review and strengthen the city’s current evaluation framework. Councilors said the present process is too open-ended and would benefit from a clearer set of criteria.

“...I am in strong support of this, due to the situation that Worcester finds itself in this morning,” public commenter David Webb told the committee, citing reports he said showed inconsistencies in statements by the city manager and saying residents deserve “the truth and a little bit of accountability.”

Assistant City Manager Hung Nguyen and William Bagley, the city’s chief human resources officer, told the committee the administration already is building a comprehensive performance-evaluation framework tied to the city’s strategic plan. Nguyen said the administration’s goal is to submit a usable evaluation tool “much sooner than July” and, if possible, before the next city manager evaluation cycle in late June.

Bagley said the human resources office would gather materials from the Mass. Municipal Association and assemble technical assistance for the council, adding that the department has been consulting MMA on hiring and other HR best practices.

Committee business also included two related orders that the committee later filed: item 3B was filed by vote and item 3C — which requested that the chief human resources officer provide technical assistance in creating an advisory evaluation tool — was also filed. The committee recorded roll-call approvals on those items.

The committee did not adopt a final evaluation form at the Jan. 28 meeting. Councilors and administration staff said any draft rubric would come back to the committee for review before the full council approved it.

The matter remains under committee oversight, with the administration tasked to report back with examples and suggested language drawn from MMA resources and the administration’s strategic-plan work.

Less urgent procedural notes: the committee confirmed that the city has previously contracted with the National League of Cities for trainings and used MMA resources for DEI work. The International City-County Management Association (ICMA) was discussed as a less commonly used resource locally.

Looking ahead, councilors said they expect to review the draft evaluation form once received and decide whether to use it for the June evaluation cycle or defer until a subsequent year, depending on timing and alignment with the strategic-plan rollout.