Susan, our City Manager

A lot of time and thought went in to Susan Stanton’s performance review…the first one in my memory that we have had in the City of Lake Worth. It was professional. Commissioner Maxwell even had a book 2 inches thick that he had compiled on Ms. Stanton which even included information from her employment in Largo. He has done employee evaluations for 30 years and spent 35 to 50 hours in preparation for Ms. Stanton's Performance Review.

All Commissioners, for the most part, were very thoughtful in their analysis of Ms. Stanton.

As we sit on the other side of the Dais and rarely have a chance to speak with her on issues, it is impossible as a resident to really evaluate her. We see the tangibles and know that the City, finally, is going in the right direction. We are not privy to her management style or when she does not use a kid glove approach with her subordinates. We only know that she is soft-spoken but has been surprised about the range of intensity from some of our citizens and on a few occasions spoke out about it. Motivating employees to perform to the best of their ability is good. We have seen a lot of mistakes over the years with employees coming and going as they pleased. Everyone can be better. She is making everything more transparent and requiring employees to be more accountable.

The employees in our city have, in the past, been running this City. They are not used to a strong take-charge leader and I am confident that this has been hard for some to adjust. Over time, they will. We did not hear what some on the Commission were concerned about as far as what interpersonal skills she needed to improve upon but we have heard the rumors that from time to time she will use a swear word. This was not discussed. So the major gripe was addressed cautiously and particulars were avoided completely.

Ms. Stanton has over 18 years experience. She knows her work level. If she would rather work than take a vacation that should be her prerogative. I was actually the very same way when I worked—I never took a vacation. It would have bored me to death. She knows she still has many challenges in front of her. Let her set her own pace. She knows what she is doing. She loves to work. If she wants a vacation, she will take one.

As far as having her get out into the community more and talking to the citizens, I just do not see the purpose of this or why it was a criticism. She has way too many fires to still put out without worrying about the residents. That is what the elected officials should be doing, not the city manager. If you call her office, her secretary, Mary, will make an appointment for you.

Scott Maxwell’s suggestion of a monthly financial report is excellent. In this way the Commission can determine if each department is working within forecasts and it could red flag any problems. It will be a good gauge and they will receive less budgetary surprises going forward.

All in all, it might have been interesting listening for all of us in the Chamber or at home but the time and effort was essentially an exercise that was unnecessary to conduct in public. Ms. Stanton came out with what I am assuming was good job approval over-all. After two hours of discussion on a performance matrix that took all sorts of time and research to devise, we never learned the actual results.