MONROE - Monroe aldermen prefer to do performance evaluations of city department heads their own way, not the mayor's.
Members of the Salary and Personnel Committee, who will begin conducting the evaluations next week, made that decision Tuesday.
Mayor Ron Marsh had wanted aldermen to fill out evaluation forms before they interview department heads. Marsh then planned to produce a composite of those forms to use during the interviews.
But committee members decided they'd rather fill out the forms after the interview is completed. They thought it would be better to complete the evaluation forms after the interview, since aldermen don't work with department heads on a daily basis at City Hall.
Marsh said that would be OK, but only a composite of the evaluations would go into an employee's personnel folder.
Alderman Dan Henke said he would for department heads, in a "relaxed mode" of discussion with the committee, to "lay out what they would like to see done" in the coming year.
"So we have a basis and see how they (the plans) worked," Henke said.
The committee plans to follow the same procedure department heads use to evaluate their own employees, with an interview, evaluation form and an employee's self-evaluation form. Evaluation interviews will be done in closed session, with percentages of raises disclosed in open session.
The committee on Tuesday also amended the minutes of its last meeting to reflect a motion passed to give non-union employees the same insurance share rate of 2.5 percent as was negotiated for union employees. The motion had included also to give the same pay raise. But committee members agreed the discussion at the time was about health insurance only.
"Compensation should not have been in the mix," Chairman Mark Coplien said.
The committee also gave its approval for department heads to continue to initiate meetings together. The decision came after discussion about the atmosphere and communication at City Hall.
"I think as I see it, over the past week I've been talking with department heads. And I think we've lost all concept of everything since the administrator (Mark Vahlsing) left," Alderman Charles Schuringa said.
Schuringa said there is an uneasiness among department heads.
"They're department heads, let them do their jobs, and if there's a mistake, then deal with it. Everybody's afraid," Schuringa said. "And they're not having their meetings together. We hired them to be department heads; let them be department heads."
"It has to be a happy family around here or nothing's going to get done," he said.
Marsh said he made the decision for department heads "to meet when we need to meet."
There have been about four department head meetings since mid-May, he said.
When Vahlsing was the city administrator, department heads met once a week.
Alderman Keith Ingwell said the weekly scheduled meetings had been in place before Vahlsing was hired in 2006.
Director of Public Works Kelly Finkenbinder said he recently started a volunteer meeting of department heads to facilitate continuity between departments. He had plans to set up more meetings, on possibly a bi-weekly schedule, first for the Public Works Department heads followed by a meeting of all department heads.
Finkenbinder said he thought it was more important now, at a time when some positions are vacant, such as the office of building inspector.
Henke encouraged the meetings.
"Everybody has to know what everybody else is doing," he said.
Henke also requested a list of the scheduled meetings so aldermen could attend to stay abreast of work going on in the city.
Members of the Salary and Personnel Committee, who will begin conducting the evaluations next week, made that decision Tuesday.
Mayor Ron Marsh had wanted aldermen to fill out evaluation forms before they interview department heads. Marsh then planned to produce a composite of those forms to use during the interviews.
But committee members decided they'd rather fill out the forms after the interview is completed. They thought it would be better to complete the evaluation forms after the interview, since aldermen don't work with department heads on a daily basis at City Hall.
Marsh said that would be OK, but only a composite of the evaluations would go into an employee's personnel folder.
Alderman Dan Henke said he would for department heads, in a "relaxed mode" of discussion with the committee, to "lay out what they would like to see done" in the coming year.
"So we have a basis and see how they (the plans) worked," Henke said.
The committee plans to follow the same procedure department heads use to evaluate their own employees, with an interview, evaluation form and an employee's self-evaluation form. Evaluation interviews will be done in closed session, with percentages of raises disclosed in open session.
The committee on Tuesday also amended the minutes of its last meeting to reflect a motion passed to give non-union employees the same insurance share rate of 2.5 percent as was negotiated for union employees. The motion had included also to give the same pay raise. But committee members agreed the discussion at the time was about health insurance only.
"Compensation should not have been in the mix," Chairman Mark Coplien said.
The committee also gave its approval for department heads to continue to initiate meetings together. The decision came after discussion about the atmosphere and communication at City Hall.
"I think as I see it, over the past week I've been talking with department heads. And I think we've lost all concept of everything since the administrator (Mark Vahlsing) left," Alderman Charles Schuringa said.
Schuringa said there is an uneasiness among department heads.
"They're department heads, let them do their jobs, and if there's a mistake, then deal with it. Everybody's afraid," Schuringa said. "And they're not having their meetings together. We hired them to be department heads; let them be department heads."
"It has to be a happy family around here or nothing's going to get done," he said.
Marsh said he made the decision for department heads "to meet when we need to meet."
There have been about four department head meetings since mid-May, he said.
When Vahlsing was the city administrator, department heads met once a week.
Alderman Keith Ingwell said the weekly scheduled meetings had been in place before Vahlsing was hired in 2006.
Director of Public Works Kelly Finkenbinder said he recently started a volunteer meeting of department heads to facilitate continuity between departments. He had plans to set up more meetings, on possibly a bi-weekly schedule, first for the Public Works Department heads followed by a meeting of all department heads.
Finkenbinder said he thought it was more important now, at a time when some positions are vacant, such as the office of building inspector.
Henke encouraged the meetings.
"Everybody has to know what everybody else is doing," he said.
Henke also requested a list of the scheduled meetings so aldermen could attend to stay abreast of work going on in the city.