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TIMMONS UPBEAT ABOUT JOB EVALUATION, CITY

A bouquet of (lowers with ihe simple note of "Thanks" recently arrived in the city manager's office in among the controversies du jour. For every petal on the flowers, Pori Townsend (Washington) City Manager David Timmons could probahly enumerate other controversies over his four and one-half years at the helm of city government. But he can recall only two times that anyone has sent flowers to note their gratitude. From siting the skateboard park to paying (or the city hall annex, Timmons has often been at the center of the community dialogue. That he survived the first 18 months on the job surprised oiher city managers throughout Washington state, who laid odds that he wouldn't stay that long. But Timmons still sits in the comer office at the Waterman & Katz Building. Recently, it was the golf-course controversy Before that, il was the shipbuilding-company drama that consumed more than one meeting. Next week, chances are the wagging tongues will find some new controversy regarding eity government or personnel. do effective business," he said. The recent innovation to plaee new initiatives in an "in-box," then review them every three months before taking them on, is designed to alleviate the problems associated with an everexpanding list of projects and issues. Another change that Timmons has advocated and that the council is starting to facilitate is to restructure agendas and committees to cut the numher of meetings. "Many times, we'd find things on [a committees! agenda that the staff didn't know about," he said. "Communication was breaking down in the environment we had. We have to change the way we do business." Timmons cited the sheer volume of 2,059 e-mails he received from October 2003 to mid-January 2004. "That doesn't include phone calls, getting minutes written, and providing meeting agendas," he said. "The 276 meetings also don't include meetings with other governments." TimtTions has also advocated that the council hold single-topic workshops at which councilors won't be distracted by public comments on controversial subjects. "It helps the city council to understand the issues and to listen to what the staff is saying," Timmons said. An example was the Monday, January 12, study session on a utility-rate study. "We were able to sit down with a single item in a work session, and we were able to get their full attetuion on that issue."

David Timmons is city manager of Port Townsend, Washington.

JOB EVALUATION
i:)fspitc the stressful realities of Port Townsend governance, Timmons has once more received passing grades for his work from the city council. The councilors expressed concerns regarding communications, staff supervision, and long-range planning, but these eoncerns weren't censures. Timmons said il was a fair evaluation, though, as with all evaluations, it tended to focus on the negative rather than acknowledge the positive. He said the eouncil-nianager form of government requires the two arms of government partnering, and the evaluation helped reveal strengths and weaknesses in that relationship. The council summed up Timmons's performance iti the evaluation dated December 16, 200.3: "Thank you for your continued good work as the city
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manager of Port Townsend during this very challenging and productive year," then-Mayor Kees Kolff stated. "Last year, we also felt that you were performing well and at the same time identilied three areas in which we had specific recommendations for improvement." The first of these recommendations is for Timmons to improve communication between his administration and the council. Councilniembers would like him to send out more press releases, provide additional information in council packets, send memos to council "on relevant, timely developments," and communicate tnore with the council on issues of policy.

276 MEETINGS
Timmons said ihat one problem he and his staff have faced is trying to keep up with their duties while also staffing 276 meetings last year. These meetings are both citizen advisory boards and council committees, though the number doesn't include the multijurisdictional meetings among the city, port, county, state, and/or utility district. "The volume of work we're trying to complete is making it extremely difficult to

MANAGING STAFF
The second set of recommendations asks Timmons to make sure that staff members don't predict policy decisions, that he inform council of how he does job evaluations, and that he invite councilmetiibers to offer input on the job performance of department directors. The city council also wants to be more involved in evaluating department directors. Timmons said he would be willing to have the couneilors provide
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evaluation proeess will remain the eity manager's purview. "They would give me inpiu, but ultiinaieiy it's my decision." he said. "That request wasn't universal among thf councilors; nor was ii uniform. I ihink everybody was nervous about stepping over the line" separating policy making From administration. "1 would not have them sit in on evaluations, hut they could provide feedback. That's totally appropriate." He said some councilmembers expressed concern about particular department directors. The building and community development (BCD) department is singled out in the evaluation as "the one major department of concern," particularly in the amount of lime required for applieants to receive permits. I haven't had pressure to remove anyone, hut it's more that people aren't necessarily happy." Timmons said. "Thats not unique to this city council, but that was the way it was when I arrived." As for the council's stated concern that staff members predict policy decisions. Timmons said he felt ihat this wasn't tbc ease. "The staff tries tn be careful not to make predictions." he said. "But statements get misconstrued quickly." As for how the staff performs, Timmons said, "For the most part, I have a lot oI confidence in the staff to do the right thing, and they do keep me informed." That doesn't mean that Timmons won't make changes if needed. He bas hired a consultant well versed in planning and permitting to evaluate how ihc public works and BCD departments function relative to construction projects. Tbc timeline for this evaluation has called for a preliminary report on the issues to be ready in a few weeks.

and existing leases for the golf course and Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park. Timmons said the project-tracking idea, developed by an interim city manager, was never intended for use as a planning tool. "It was a tool to overwhelm the new city council with the reality of so many issues." Timmons said. But he said that his staff keeps track, whether or not the issues are all listed somewhere. "We all have numerous assignments we're managing, and we each keep track of them." Timmons said he believed the council's desire for a tracking system stems from their experience of residents asking them about issues or projects they're unaware of. Councilors can feel threatened because they don't know the details of an issue, Timmons said. "Its okay to say i don't know.' We do keep our focus on tbe major things the big-tieket items that are really important to us." Timmons said he does project into the future to see what's eoming up and then "reverse-engineers" the timeline for addressing each issue. For instance, the present golf-course lease management expires on December 31, 2006. Timmons has developed a timeline for a task force to consider the item.

OPPORTUNITIES HERE
rhere are some days .. . ," Timmons said, when asked whether he still enjoyed the job. But bo continued: '1 like getting things done. I don't like to stagnate. I like getting the city hall and fire station going." He said be bas spent a considerable amount of time in researebing communities before deciding which city manager positions to seek. He settled on Port Townsend despite being recruited by towns in Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania. Rhode Island, Oregon, and Michigan. "I went with my instincts." be said. "I saw tbe opportunities bere. Onee you get below the rancor and the politics, there's tremendous opportunities here." Port Townsend resembles an island community, he said, which tends to focus on itself. "Everything gels cxaggerated here," he said. "Most places, the

seem to bang on here." "There's a tremendous community below the surface," be said- "If somebody dares dive below the surface, they'll see that community. That surface tension is the greatest barrier we have to tbe community." He said the toughest challenge be has faced has been inertia. "A tremendous amount of planning had been done, and the needs were obvious, but building consensus over moving forward was a problem." be said. "Every time tbe process moved forward, it got pushed back into the planning mode. Trying to break that cycle has been a real challenge." Timmons said that truly significant accomplishments have gone largely unheralded because they involve water and sewer pipes, not something visible. "Major pieces of ihe inlrasiructure were sorely neglected and in need of repair." he said. "But people don't relate to it until tbeir toilet backs up." He said replacing tbe sewer putnp station and tbe ongoing work to complete a new sewer trunk line to the treatment plant have been significant accomplishments vital to tbe health of Port Townsend. "Anyone who went to see the putnp station [before its replacementl would have had sleepless nights," be said. "It's bard to recognize because it's not a park but a vault underground that pumps unsavory stulf, but it's very critical." Philip L. Walness
Staff Writer Port Townsend &r Jefferson County Leader Port Townsend.

Reprinted with permission from the Port Towmaul & jcfferwn County Leader, Port Townsend, Washington.

TRACKING ISSUES, PROJECTS

Councilors would also like Timmons to produce a tracking system so they're better informed about long-range projeets. They suggest that he use the tracking system to give quarterly updates in
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