Sanford commissioners debate evaluation form and ask for milestones to judge city manager

At a work session focused on 2026 goals, Sanford commissioners debated how to evaluate the city manager and what measures the commission should adopt.

One commissioner proposed moving away from numeric ratings toward a narrative approach: "numeric ratings just don't do the job," they said, arguing open-ended comments could better capture performance. Other commissioners responded that numerical scores are useful for determining merit increases and for consistent comparisons across years.

The commission and staff discussed several supporting pieces of infrastructure for evaluation: a public dashboard with timelines and status updates for capital projects; master plans for utilities, the fire department and other large programs; and clearer reporting on project milestones so commissioners can measure implementation rather than repeat the same conversations each year.

Legal counsel advised commissioners about limits in evaluating contracted personnel and offered to provide legal analysis regarding evaluations of the city attorney and other contracted positions. The city manager and staff agreed to provide a more specific timeline of actions and milestones after the commission finalizes the goals.

Commissioners also raised operational priorities that should be reflected in goals, including grant-writing capacity, permit processing improvements, website and forms automation, and a push for greater responsiveness from some departments. Several said they expect the city manager to present a realistic schedule for how and when staff will address those goals.