City Council Minutes 2017 08 29 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes August 29, 2017 Page 2 of 8 come were candid and honest in their discussions. There were overarching themes and patterns consistent across the groups. She stated the data is sound but she would have liked to have had more respondents. Councilmember Leh stated he thought the staff input looked detailed. He noted there will be other chances for everyone to give input in the process. Ramos stated she has been researching characteristics of an effective City Manager noting these are what she found• developing the budget, managing human resources, exceptional service delivery, planning strategically for community development, driving continuous improvement, a commitment to high ethical standards, team building, and providing leadership. This is the backdrop to use as you look at this data Ramos asked if Council had any questions about the report, was there anything surprising, anything that makes you mad, sad, or glad. Councilmember Maloney asked if the varied staff groups answered similarly or not Ramos stated the answers were very consistent across all three groups Councilmember Maloney asked how many of the boards were represented in those interviews. Ramos stated they asked each board to send two representatives to attend and in the end five or six boards were represented Ramos asked what they found that was a surprise Mayor Pro Tem Lipton asked if staff morale is an issue Ramos stated there were some comments about micromanaging and communication. She noted she kept the questions focused on what you want for the future, not complaining about previous managers She noted she didn't really allow that conversation but kept it focused on the future Mayor Muckle was surprised how consistent everyone was, people stated they wanted someone with vision, they noted very high level manager themes Ramos noted there were overarching themes among all the groups The only major difference was from employees who asked for a person with vision and a strategic plan; someone who could say no; and we have too many priorities Staff wants a city manager who keeps the city on focus to help with staff burn out. Councilmember Maloney asked what she leamed about the staff/council relationship. Ramos stated council is coming to staff too much; the lines are blurred and employees want council to respect the chain of authority. Staff feels requests from Council sometime conflict with what managers are saying. Staff wants a manager who can manage the boundaries between council and staff. Councilmember Leh was interested in the statement "redefining roles of staff, council, boards/commissions." He asked for more information on this Ramos stated the