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TIMMONS UPBEAT ABOUTJOB EVALUATION, CITYA bouquetof(lowers with ihe simplenoteof"Thanks" recently arrivedinthecity manager's officeinamong the con-troversies du jour. For every petal onthe flowers, Pori Townsend(Washington) City Manager DavidTimmons could probahly enumerateother controversies over his four andone-half years at the helm of city gov-ernment. But he can recall only twotimes that anyone has sent flowerstonote their gratitude.

From siting the skateboard parktopaying (or the city hall annex, Timmonshas often beenatthe centerofthe com-munity dialogue. That he survivedthefirst 18 mo nths on th e job surprisedoiher city managers throughoutWashington state, who laid odds thathe wouldn't stay that long.

But Timmons still sitsinthe com eroffice at the Waterman&Katz Building.Recently,itwas the golf-course contro-versy Before that,ilwas the sh ipbuild-ing-company drama that consumedmore than one meeting. Next week,chances are the wagging tongues willfind some new controversy regardingeity government or personnel.JOB EVALU ATIONi:)fspitc the stressful realitiesofPortTownsend gov ernance, Timmons hasonce more received passing gradesforhis work from the city council. Thecouncilors expressed concerns regard-ing communications, staff supervision,and long-range planning, but these eon-cerns weren't censures.

Timmons saidilwas a fair evalua-tion, though, as with all evaluations,ittendedtofocus on the negative ratherthan acknowledge the positive. He saidthe eouncil-nianager form of govern-ment requires the two arms of govern-ment partnering, and the evaluationhelped reveal strengths and weaknessesin that relationship.The council summed up Timmons'sperformance iti the evaluation datedDecember 16,200.3:"Thank youforyour continued good work as the city

D a v id T im m o ns is city managerof P ort Townsend, Wash ington.

manager of Port Townsend during thisvery challenging and productive year,"then-Mayor Kees Kolff stated. "Lastyear, we also felt that you were perform-ing well and at the same time identiliedthree areasinwhich we had specific rec-ommendations for improvement."

The firstofthese recommendationsis for Timmons to improve communica-tion between his administration and thecouncil. Councilniembers would likehim to send out more press releases,provide additional information incoun-cil packets, send memos to council "onrelevant, timely developments," andcommunicate tnore with the councilonissuesofpolicy.276 MEETINGSTimmons said ihat one problem he andhis staff have facedis tryingtokeep upwith their duties while also staffing 276meetings last year. These meeting s areboth citizen advisory boards and coun-cil committees, though the numb erdoesn't include the multijurisdictionalmeetings among the city, port, county,state, and/or utility district. "Thevolume of work we're trying to com-plete is makingitextremely difficultto

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do effective busine ss," he said.The recent innovation to plaee newinitiatives in an "in-box," then reviewthem every three months before takingthem o n, is designed to alleviatetheproblems associated w ith an ever-expanding list of projects and issues.Another change that Timmons hasadvocated and that the council is start-ing to facilitate isto restructure agendasand committees to cut the numher ofmeetings.

"Many times, we'd find things on[acom mittees agenda that the staff didn'tknow about," he said. "Communicationwas breaking downinthe environmentwe had. We have to change the way wedo business." Timmons cited the sheervolumeof2,059 e-mails he receivedfrom October 2003 to mid-January2004.

"That doesn't include phone calls,getting m inutes written, and providingmeeting agendas," he said. "The 276meetings also don't include meetingswith other governments."TimtTions has also advocated that the

council hold single-topic workshops atwhich councilors won't be distracted bypublic comments on controversial sub-jects."It helps the city counciltounderstand the issues andtolistentowhat the staff is saying," Timm ons said.An example was the Monday, January12,study session onautility-rate study."We were able to sit down withasingleitemina work session, and we wereable to get their full attetuiononthatissue."MANAGING STAFFThe second setofrecomm endationsasks Timmonstomake sure that staffmembers do n't predict policy decisions,that he inform councilofhow he doesjob evaluations, and that he invite coun-cilmetiibers to offer input on the jobperformance of department directors.

The city council also wants to bemore involvedinevaluating departmen tdirectors. Timmons said he would bewilling to have the couneilors providePublic Management NoyBmhcr 2Q 4

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^ . i o i i , s l o l u l l ) h u i i l h i i L Uevaluation pro eess will remain the eitymanager's purview."They would give me inpiu,butulti-inaieiy it's my decision." he said. "Thatrequest wasn't universal amongthfcouncilors; nor wasiiuniform.Iihinkeverybody was nervous about stepping

over the line" separating policy makingFrom ad ministration . 1 would not havethemsit in onevaluations,huttheycould provide feedback. That's totallyappropriate."He said some councilmembersexpressed concern about particulardepartment directors. The building andcommunity development (BCD)departmentissingledout inthe evalu-ationas"theonemajor departmentofconcern," particularlyinthe amount of

lime requiredforapplieantstoreceivepermits. haven't had pressuretoremoveanyone,hutit's more that p eople aren'tnecessarily happy." Timm ons said."Thatsnotuniquetothis city council,but that was the wayitwas whenIarrived."Asforthe council's stated co ncernthat staff members predict policy deci-sions.Timmons saidhe felt ihat thiswasn't tbc ease. "The staff triestn be

carefulnot tomake predictions."hesaid. "But statements get misconstruedquickly."Asforhow the staff performs,Timmons said, "For the most part,Ihavea lot oIconfidenceinthe stafftodo the right thing, and they do keep meinformed." That doesn't mean thatTimmons won't make changes ifneeded. He bas hired a consultant wellversedinplanning and perm ittingtoevaluate howihcpublic w orks andBCD departm ents function relativetoconstruction projects. Tbc timelineforthis evaluation has calledfora prelimi-nary reportonthe issuestobe readyina few weeks.

TRACKING ISSUES,PROJECTSCouncilors would also like Timmonstoproduceatracking systemsothey'rebetter informed about long-range proj-

i-ucli .irtasas (hewait.T-svsKiuand existing leasesforthe golf courseand Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park.Timmons said the project-trackingidea, developedby aninterim city m an-ager, was never inten dedforuse as aplanning tool. Itwasatooltoover-whelmthenew city council withthereality of s o many issues." Timmonssaid. But he said that his staff keepstrack, whetherornot the issues arealllisted somewhere. "We all have numer-ous assignments we're managing, andwe each keep trackofthem."

Timmons saidhebelieved the coun-cil's desirefor atracking system stemsfrom their experienceofresidentsasking them a bout issuesorprojectsthey're unawareof.Councilors can feelthreatened because they don't knowthe details of an issue, Timmons said."Its okaytosayi don't know.' Wedokeepourfocuson tbe major thingsthe big-tieket items that are reallyimportanttous."

Timmons said he does project intothe futuretosee what's eoming up andthen "reverse-engineers" the timelinefor addressing each issue. For instance,the present golf-course lease manage-ment expiresonDecember 3 1 , 2006.Timmons has developedatimelineforatask forcetoconsider the item.OPPORTUNITIES HERE

rhere are some days.. . , Timmonssaid, when asked whether he stillenjoyed the job . But bo continued: '1like getting things done. I don't liketostagnate.Ilike getting the city hallandfire station going."He saidbebas spent a considerableamountoftimeinresearebing commu-nities before deciding which city m an-ager positions to seek. He settledonPort Townsend despite being recruitedby townsinColorad o, Texas,Pennsylvania. Rhode Island, Oregon,and Michigan. Iwent with myinstincts." be said. "I saw tbe opportu-nities bere. Onee yougetbelowtherancor and the politics, there's tremen-dous op portunities here."Port Townsend resembles an islandcommunity, he said, which tendsto

iBBaBBaaaaaaaaBaaaBBBBBBBBBaaBBBBBBBBBaig o .tW.l) lllL IK'.\l lla).I MICSseemtobang on here.""There's a tremendous commu nitybelow the surface," be said- "If some-body dares dive below the surface,they'll see that community. That surfacetensionisthe greatest barrier we haveto tbe community."

He said the toughest challengebehas faced has been inertia. "A tremen-dous amountofplanning had beendone,andthe needs were obvious,bubuilding consensus over movingfor-ward wasaproblem."besaid. "Everytimetbeprocess moved forward,itgotpushed back intotheplanning mode.Tryingtobreak that cycle has beenareal challenge."Timmons said that truly significantaccomplishments have gone largely

unheralded because they involve waterand sewer pipes,notsomething visible."Major piecesof ihe inlrasiructure weresorely neglected andinneedofrepair."he said. "But people don't relateto ituntil tbeir toilet backs up."He said replacing tbe sewer putnpstationandtbe ong oing worktocom-pleteanew sewer trunk lineto thetreatment plant have been significantaccomplishments vitaltotbe health ofPort Townsend. "Anyone who wentto

see the putnp station [beforeitsreplacementl would have had sleeplessnigh ts," be said. "It's bardtorecognizebecause it's not a park butavaultunderground that pumps unsavorystulf,butit's very cr itical."

Philip L .WalneStaff Write

Port Townsend & r JeffersonCounty Leade

Port TownsendReprinted with permission fromthe ort Towmaul jcfferwn CountyLeader, Port Townsend, Washington.

eets.They suggest thathe use thetrack- focus onitself."Ev erything gels cxag-ing system to give quarterly updatesin gerated here," he said. "Most places,the

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Public Management November 2004

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