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Salem council approves consent items; orders evaluation of interim city manager with leadership‑team feedback
Summary
On Aug. 11 the Salem City Council unanimously approved the consent calendar including a $70,000 internal transfer for tree planting and a supplemental budget change for Center 50 Plus, and directed an anonymous performance evaluation of Interim City Manager Krishna Namburi that will include feedback from the leadership team.
The Salem City Council on Aug. 11 approved consent items and directed staff to begin an anonymous performance evaluation of Interim City Manager Krishna Namburi, adding leadership‑team feedback to the evaluation scope.
Votes at a glance
- Motion to add two items to the agenda (presentation by a staff member and a correction to an item time): passed by roll call (unanimous).
- Consent calendar (approved by unanimous roll call): included approval of the July 28, 2025 draft minutes; Resolution 2025‑9, transferring $70,000 in FY2026 appropriations for tree planting; a fiscal‑year supplemental budget amendment to increase appropriations for Center 50 Plus (identified as item 3.2.b in the packet); and authorization for the interim city manager to submit an application for the Community Renewable Energy Grant Program and, if successful, enter into an agreement with the Oregon Department of Energy (item 3.3.a).
- Motion to conduct a performance evaluation of Interim City Manager Krishna Namburi: passed. Councilor Nishioka moved the evaluation; the council directed the city attorney to distribute an updated, anonymous evaluation form to each council member. The council later amended that motion to include the executive leadership team (department heads) as respondents and authorized the city attorney discretion to adapt the questionnaire for leadership‑team responses; the amendment and the main motion both passed by roll call (unanimous).
Other formal actions and notes
- The council approved administrative information reports and several planning‑related hearings‑officer decisions as part of the information reports. Those items were accepted without individual discussion.
- A lighthearted, nonoperative motion "to fix the air conditioner" was moved and seconded and the meeting proceeded; no substantive policy change resulted from that motion.
How the evaluation will proceed
City Attorney Dan Acheson told councilors the plan is to distribute a revised evaluation form (based on a prior 2023–24 form), receive anonymous returns, compile average scores and anonymized comments, and provide a summary to the council in advance of a September meeting. The council authorized including roughly 10 additional leadership‑team respondents if councilors agree; the attorney will prepare a fillable PDF and a procedure for anonymous submission.
Ending
All recorded roll‑call votes on Aug. 11 were unanimous in favor of the measures reported in the meeting. The evaluation process will proceed on the timeline described by the city attorney, with summary results to inform a subsequent executive‑session discussion with the interim city manager.
