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Committee approves minutes, plans update to city manager evaluation and new goal-setting session
Summary
At a Feb. 25 meeting of the Battle Creek City manager performance evaluation committee, members approved minutes from Aug. 27 and directed staff to update the 2019 evaluation form by Feb. 28; the committee plans a goal-setting session with Dom and Associates and will circulate draft goals in advance.
Battle Creek — The City Manager Performance Evaluation Committee approved minutes from its Aug. 27 meeting and outlined steps to update the city manager evaluation form, the committee agreed Wednesday morning.
City Attorney Kim advised the committee that the session did not fall under the state's Open Meetings Act “so long as the body is not deliberating towards or rendering a decision on public policy,” and recommended stopping and re-noticing the meeting if members began deliberating on a policy or resolution that would later go before the full commission.
Why it matters: The committee is responsible for reviewing and updating the performance goals and evaluation used to assess the city manager. Members said the current evaluation form dates to April 22, 2019, and that an updated, modernized form will help the commission track progress on items such as placemaking and arts and culture.
Amanda, who presented the status of the evaluation form, told the committee staff were updating the 2019 document and that she had given staff a Feb. 28 deadline to complete those updates. “I will send to the commission my goals, what I see as valuable to the city and then we can build off of that,” Amanda said, adding she wants the evaluation committee to review proposed goals before they are presented to the full commission.
The committee agreed in principle to schedule a goal-setting session with Dom and Associates to reestablish measurable goals. Members discussed logistics for retreats and special sessions and said weekday evenings—historically around 5:00 or 5:30 p.m.—have been typical start times; they also acknowledged that assembling all nine commissioners for a full-day retreat could be difficult and that splitting the work into two sessions might be necessary.
Votes at a glance: The committee moved to approve the Aug. 27 minutes; the motion was made by Commissioner Reynolds and seconded by Commissioner Lance. Three members vocalized assent and the chair declared the motion carried.
Committee members asked whether community leaders would be invited to weigh in on the evaluation process. Amanda said outreach to community leaders had been planned previously and was now underway after a postponement to 2020; she offered to work one-on-one with a committee member to assemble a list of community participants.
Next steps: Staff will complete updates to the evaluation form by Feb. 28, Amanda will circulate proposed goals to commissioners in advance of the goal-setting session with Dom and Associates, and the committee chair said she would notify absent Commissioner Morris and reconvene at a date and time to be determined.
The committee adjourned without further action Wednesday morning.
