Where's Susan?It is time for a house-cleaning—again. When Susan Stanton arrived here, she was determined to get our city back on track. She knew we had problems but had no conception of the degree or the cause. After you are on the job for a few months, you usually learn what and who are behind the problems and the state of affairs.
It is human nature to believe in your Staff and give them a chance to perform. Ms. Stanton has enough to do without micro-managing her department heads. Unfortunately, it was some of these very people who were and are stabbing her in the back. She fired many of them. Some are still employed, soon to be revealed.
We brought in a city manager to make the tough decisions. Some employees don’t like the fact that now they even have to come to work on time. Ah gee.
You cannot manage a City of our size without loyalty and respect from your employees. Communication is a must. If you have department chiefs undermining the city manager’s authority and very existence, complaining and whining to Mayor Varela and City Commissioner, Scott Maxwell, whose mission all along was to get Stanton terminated, then you have a city in anarchy.
Last night’s meeting revealed the true problem and state-of-affairs in our City.
3 comments:
" ... then you have a city in anarchy." And the ones fomenting this dysfunction are Varela and Maxwell. (Funny how the anarchal worm turns.)
WOW. I must have been listening to a totally different meeting, because what I heard was the Mayor and Commissioner Maxwell trying to see if they were getting a return on their investment. That's right, the $150,000 a year + benefits that they are paying Stanton. When new management is brought on board, it is very common, if not the gold standard, to have that person evaluated at least semi-annually.
I can't believe you don't see the potential conflict of interest for employees who have a problem with Ms. Stanton having to report directly to her. She has the ability to fire ANYONE. Don't you think if someone has a problem with a policy or questions something she is doing that they might be fearing for their jobs if they ask her about it? Of course they are going to ask the Commissioners! They can air their grievances without fear of petty retribution.
And I was SHOCKED to hear that there is no official employee review process. That is terrifying, especially considering the large number of people Ms. Stanton has laid off. If they decide to file a lawsuit, what kind of documentation can the City provide without a review process? We need to START AT THE TOP. Set an example by evaluating the City Manager sooner rather then later. And then we can move on to Department Heads and work our way down. Lead by example.
Oh WOW!!!!!!!!! I guess you missed the part where the City Commission will give her some specific goals so that they CAN evaluate her performance. I guess you missed the part where it is stated in her Contract that she is to be reviewed on an ANNUAL basis for salary, around May 4.
She has a Contract. Has it not been a problem when we don't honor contracts and just go on our merry way? There is nothing in it that says she has to be reviewed at all.
I guess you did not see the red in Maxwell's eyes as venom was spilling out of his mouth.
Just because the Mayor and Maxwell want to have a performance review on their terms for their political interests, the Contract is specific--no mention of a performance review.
Usually one year is normal. If the City Commission wants reviews earlier than that, they first need to give specific goals in order to evaluate. right now her performance is based on following our City Charter and other duties legally permissible.
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