The East Grand Rapids City Commission voted to approve revisions and the renewal of the city manager's employment agreement after discussing the matter in closed session, and later rejected a separate proposal to form an ad hoc committee to research manager-evaluation tools.

City staff recommended that the commission "move approval of modifications to [the] city manager's contract as outlined in the memo provided to the commission, and then that will become a public document," a staff member said during the meeting. The facilitator then called for a voice vote; the commission approved the contract renewal with one member opposed.

The approval followed a closed-session discussion. Commissioners and staff agreed that the final contract language and the memo describing modifications would be made public once the commission approved the motion.

Earlier in the meeting, a commissioner proposed establishing an ad hoc committee "to research appropriate city manager evaluation tools and processes in order to make recommendations to the city commission for the establishment of an evaluation policy and process." The mover described a committee with ideally one commissioner from each ward to research tools and return recommendations to the full commission. That motion was seconded and debated. One commissioner urged starting with a smaller step: gathering data first, saying she had already "spoken with the mayor" and that the commission president and mayor would begin the process of collecting information before any formal committee was assembled.

The facilitator called a voice vote on the ad hoc-committee motion; several members voiced opposition and the facilitator announced, "Motion does not carry." The commission did not adopt the ad hoc committee and moved on to the contract agenda item.

The meeting record shows the commission handled the contract renewal and the evaluation-policy proposal as separate items: the ad hoc committee idea was discussed and voted down; the contract revision and renewal was approved and the related memo will be made public. The commission then opened a brief public-comment period and adjourned.

Next steps: the staff memo outlining the contract changes will be posted as a public document, and the commission retained discretion to pursue manager-evaluation work by other means (data-gathering, president-led discussions) rather than the failed ad hoc committee.