I had my annual performance review with the City Council last night. The Council hires an outside consultant to facilitate the review. The consultant seeks employee input, blends that with Council input, and then adds my self-assessment input. The consultant presents the full report to the Council in a closed session. I do not attend the closed session so the Council can feel comfortable discussing my performance without me sitting right in front of them.
After they complete their conversation, the Mayor sits down with me and gives me the news. It was good news again this year. The Council is satisfied with my performance and would like me to stay on for at least another year. The Council agreed on an increase to my base salary plus a performance bonus payment that is part of my employment agreement.
The final step of my review process is the public discussion, which always occurs on live TV at the Council meeting. The Mayor summarizes the Council’s closed session discussion, accepts a motion for approval, asks Council Members for comments and then asks for a vote to approve the motion. I’ve been a city manager now for 19 years (it’ll be 20 next month), but I still squirm a little bit in the public testimony part - even if it is mostly good. Maybe I should squirm a little bit. That’s probably not a bad thing.
I am very fortunate to have a cast of great co-workers here. That’s where the real work of the City gets done. The Council likes my work, which means the Council likes their work too.
Thanks everybody!
