TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Council Committee for City Manager Performance Evaluation
FROM: Krishna Namburi, Deputy City Manager/Enterprise Services Director
Michele Bennett, HR Assistant Director
SUBJECT:
title
Procedure for the City Manager’s performance evaluation process.
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Good Governance.
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SUMMARY:
summary
Council Policy No. A-6 of the Salem City Council describes the procedure for reviewing the performance and setting salary of the City Manager (Attachment 1). Any changes or modifications to the procedure as outlined in the Council Policy will be presented as proposed recommendation for the performance evaluation process to the City Council. The Council Committee selected a consultant to guide the evaluation process and part of the procedures and evaluation criteria are not aligned to the current Council Policy A-6. The Council Committee is requesting a procedural waiver from the current Council Policy A-6 so that the facilitated interview evaluation process as proposed by the consultant may begin. City Council has the authority to make the final determination of the City Manager performance evaluation procedure.
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ISSUE:
Shall City Council approve selection of the consultant and proposal for the facilitated performance evaluation process, and staff’s recommendations for the timelines and procedures as modified from Council Policy A-6?
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Approve selection of the consultant’s proposal for the facilitated performance evaluation process for City Manager, and staff recommendation for procedural modifications from Council Policy A-6.
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FACTS AND FINDINGS:
Keith Stahley has been appointed as City Manager since September 2022. Per his employment contract with the City of Salem, setting of his salary is contingent upon a review of his performance. Historically, the City retains a consultant to help guide the Council Committee on the process to review and collect information on the City Manager’s performance. The Committee then makes recommendations of the procedure and evaluation criteria to the City Council for final decision and approval.
The Committee, which consists of Mayor Hoy, Councilor Gonzalez, Councilor Nordyke, and Councilor Stapleton, met on January 10, 2024, and reviewed the proposal from Daniel Keen Consulting to conduct a facilitated evaluation process for review of the City Manager’s performance. The proposal from Daniel Keen Consulting (Attachment 2) outlines the work deliverables and steps to gather and collect employment performance information from stakeholders and present that information to City Council for the evaluation.
The consultant’s proposed evaluation process will include the following, as summarized from the attachment:
1. A self-assessment of performance by the City Manager
2. Interviews of all eight members of City Council and the Mayor.
3. Preliminary findings shared with the City Council and Mayor for their approval of final draft report.
4. Final draft report shared with the City Manager.
5. Presentation of information shared to City Council.
6. Consultant-led facilitated discussion between Council and the City Manager on opportunities and objectives for the future and,
7. A final report with the agreed upon goals and summary of the discussion.
The consultant has estimated this process to occur over two to three months, and estimated cost is $9,900.
Staff reviewed the proposal in comparison with Council Policy A-6 and advised the Council Committee to consider requesting a one-time waiver in procedures from the policy to align the steps with the consultant’s process. These modifications are intended as consolidation of some of the specific steps and methods to concisely gather and present information for the review process.
Council Policy A-6, 2 - 3: Replace the evaluation form with interviews to be held of each City Council member including the Mayor with the Consultant, and a self-assessment by the City Manager Stahley.
Council Policy A-6, 4, 5 and 6: Consolidate the delivery of data, a preliminary executive session without the City Manager, and final executive session to one executive session where the consultant will present the information collected from the interviews and self-assessment to all the City Council and the City Manager present, and includes facilitation of a collective discussion on successes, opportunities, and goals for the future. After this meeting, the consultant will provide a final report to the Committee.
These suggested modifications are intended as a one-time waiver to the current Council Policy A-6 to expediate and ensure a timely, comprehensive, and transparent process for the performance evaluation. The Committee may elect to recommend modifications to Council Policy A-6 at a later date.
BACKGROUND:
The City Manager’s Performance Evaluation process is established in Council Policy A-6. The Policy was adopted in 1995, and last amended in 2016. The Policy outlines the process and procedures of evaluating the performance of the City Manager. The Committee, as appointed by the Mayor, has authority to make recommendations to the procedures and setting of the salary of the City Manager to the City Council for final decision. Upon completion of the evaluation, City Council may decide whether to modify the City Manager’s salary.
Allison Pavelek
Sr. HR Analyst
Attachments:
1. Attachment 1, Council Policy No. A-6
2. Attachment 2, Consultant Proposal Salem CM Performance