Committee outlines annual appointee evaluation schedule, plans October executive sessions

The Government Operations Committee reviewed the city’s annual council appointee evaluation process on Sept. 3 and set a timeline for stakeholder surveys and executive sessions to review evaluations.

Courtney O'Donnell, assistant city manager, explained that the process was revised a few years ago to include internal and external stakeholder surveys. The four council appointees covered by the annual process are the city solicitor, assessor, clerk and city manager. O'Donnell said the city manager will have an additional evaluation next June as required by her contract; the manager’s first evaluation was treated as a six‑month check‑in and will be folded into the regular schedule next year.

O'Donnell described distribution plans for self‑evaluations and stakeholder surveys (staff, department heads and external partners) and said she will compile the survey results and other materials into a packet for council review. She said she experienced a technical issue with SurveyMonkey but expected stakeholder surveys to be sent by the following day and said paper surveys will be accommodated on request.

The assistant city manager proposed setting executive sessions on Oct. 28 or Oct. 29 for council members to meet individually with each appointee to review evaluations and set goals for the coming year. O'Donnell asked councilors to notify staff of any scheduling conflicts so the sessions can be scheduled during the current council year.

No formal vote was recorded in the transcript on the evaluation process; the item was presented for committee information and scheduling.