Council to circulate high-level evaluation survey ahead of City Manager review

The Sweet Home City Council voted in effect to move forward with a broadly worded community evaluation survey to inform the upcoming City Manager performance review. City Manager Ogden said the manager’s annual evaluation is next month, and staff presented a draft survey intended to gather general feedback on the direction and operations of the city rather than questions specific to the manager’s performance.

Cecily, the staff member who prepared the materials, said she consulted with City Attorney Larson and that the attorney recommended keeping the instrument high level. "I did consult with City Attorney Larson, and he recommended that we keep it very high level, not necessarily specific to City Manager Ogden," Cecily said. She told councilors she expects the survey to be in circulation for "probably 2 to 3 weeks," after which she will tally results and distribute them to council members.

Mayor Coleman and other councilors expressed support for the approach as a means to gather useful community input. Cecily proposed following circulation with an executive session in early March to conduct the manager’s performance evaluation; she cautioned the schedule may mean the formal review happens slightly later than in prior years. The council closed the work session with no formal motion recorded and with staff directed to proceed with distribution planning.