Another Evaluation Form

David Lanman obtained a generic evaluation form from Monte Akers for council to evaluate Florencio Sauceda. It is not a bad document as it provides an independent framework for looking at his performance. Councilmember Williams stated that she has developed a job description based on Sauceda's contract and Ordinance 01-02 and an unreleased job description from the city dated August 21, 2006. Her work was for a future job description not for the pending evaluation. That inspired me to take another look at Ordinance 01-02. I looked at the duties as described in the ordinance. Here is the entire wording for Section 1 of Sauceda's contract:

"Section 1: DUTIES. The duties of Employee are set forth in City of Marfa Ordinance 01-02, attached hereto as Exhibit A, and incorporated herein for all purposes."

It is very clear. So I went to the ordinance and created an evaluation form based on each duty outlined in the text of that document. This seems to be the fairest evaluation form. This is what he promised to do with his signature in exchange for his salary and benefits. Why not evaluate him on that instead of some generic form introduced after the fact? Here are the evaluation criteria based on that ordinance:

1. Prepared job descriptions for approval by the City Council.

2. Delegated duties to the officers and employees of the city.
   
3. Filled budgeted positions of the City, terminated, suspended or disciplined any employee.
   
4. Exercised supervision and control over all departments of the City.
   
5. Ensured all applicable laws were enforced.
   
6. Attended and participated in all city council meetings
   
7. Assisted the mayor in preparation, review and submission of the budget prior to the beginning of the fiscal year with proposed expenditures and message about important features.
   
8. Assisted City Council with respect to consideration of the budget.
   
9. Assured proper administration of the budget after adoption by Council.
   
10. Prepared and submitted to the City Council quarterly reports on the finances and administrative activities of the City.
    
11. Kept the city council advised of the financial condition and future needs of the city.
    
12. Advised and assisted council in completion of the annual audit.
    
13. Supervised the purchase of all materials, supplies and equipment for which funds were provided in the budget for expenses up to $3,000.
    
14. Sought competitive bids in compliance with bidding procedures of State law when applicable and sought council approval for all bids over $3,000.
    
15. All purchases, contracts or obligations for items and services were made without exceeding the current departmental budget appropriation.
    
16. Obtained supplemental appropriation approval from council for any items or services not in the current budget.
    
17. Advised city council on the advantages and disadvantages on contracts and bid proposals.
    
18. Issued written rules governing procedures for purchasing consistent with Ordinance 01-02 and applicable State law.
    
19. In the event of an accident, disaster or other circumstance creating a public emergency, the City Administrator provided the Mayor such assistance as was necessary and awarded contracts for purpose of meeting said emergency and filed within seventy-two hours with the city council a certificate describing any such emergency and showing the necessity for such emergency purposes, together with an itemized count of all such expenditures.

It seems appropriate for council to rate his performance to date as Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, Needs Improvement or Unacceptable for each of these duties. Feel free to compare this list to Marfa Ordinance 01-02. I have tried to make this list as true to the ordinance as possible as seen in the highlighted page 2 and page 3 of Marfa Ordinance 01-02. Council will decide on Flo's evaluation form on Tuesday night. To that extent, I have put this list into a PDF document that council can consider adopting for Mr. Sauceda's performance evaluation. City Administrator Sauceda should be evaluated based on what he promised to do not some generic form for a "City Manager."

NOTE: The evaluation form was updated at 8:30PM to add another criteria that had been overlooked (now item 9).