Brainerd City Council: City administrator is up to snuff

Brainerd City Administrator Jim Thoreen is meeting the expectations required of his position, but still shows room for improvement.

The Brainerd City Council Monday night conducted Thoreen's annual performance review, which included a summary of his performance as well as outlining goals for the coming year.

The process for Thoreen's review involved council members individually filling out the city's performance review form and submitting them to Council President Dave Pritschet, who on Monday summarized the results of the forms. Thoreen also completed a self-evaluation using the city's performance review form and reported the results Monday.

The performance review form scores employees in 12 categories, which include: attendance/punctuality, attitude, professionalism, productivity - quality/quantity, ability to organize, meets project deadlines, ability to work with all staff, ability to work with public, ability to follow instructions, communication skills, training/leadership abilities and cooperative abilities - fairness and impartiality. Those categories are scored on a four-point scale, which includes exceeds requirements, meets requirements, needs improvement and does not apply.

According to Pritschet's summary of the council member evaluation forms, Thoreen generally meets expectations for all the criteria on the form. There was some concern about Thoreen's communication style in regards to professionalism and his ability to work with the public, Pritschet said.

"In regard to his ability to organize, one council member felt that there needed to be some improvement but stated that we all forget things sometimes," Pritschet said.

The biggest area of concern was communication skills, Pritschet said. Four council members indicated Thoreen meets expectations while three others indicated there is room for improvement, Pritschet said. Two of those council members said timeliness is one area they'd like to see Thoreen improve in, Pritschet said.

"In the area of attitude, two council members believe that Mr. Thoreen exceeds expectations," Pritschet said.

Council members were satisfied Thoreen met goals set by the council for the past year, Pritschet said, which included turnaround time for public data requests, making a budget and holding an election. Goals for the coming year include a facility study, continuing paid on-call fire department services and various goals related to the city's budget process.

For Thoreen's self-evaluation, he scored himself as meeting requirements for each of the 12 categories. He also provided letter grades on an A-F scale for each category. Overall, he scored his performance as a B-.

Council members did not offer additional comments on Thoreen's performance beyond the summary Pritschet provided.

"I think that we're fortunate to have Mr. Thoreen," Pritschet said. "Everybody always has something to improve upon. Once you stop improving, then it's all over."

Thoreen's review was held in an open meeting format, which is not how city administrator performance reviews are normally conducted, Pritschet said.

According to Minnesota Statute 13D.05, subdivision 3, a public body may close a meeting to evaluate the performance of a person subject to that body's authority. At the next open meeting, the public body should summarize the conclusions of the evaluation. However, the meeting must be open if the person being evaluated requests it.

See the online version of this story at www.brainerddispatch.com to see copies of the council's evaluation of Thoreen as well as Thoreen's self-evaluation.

In other business, the council:

Received an update on projects included in the city's non-motorized transportation plan. The safety and public works committee met with the walkable bikeable committee prior to the council meeting. During the meeting, the two groups discussed projects included in the first tier of the plan, which runs from 2017-19.

None of the projects suggested for 2017 are included in the city's project plan for this year, council member Kelly Bevans said. The safety and public works committee asked the walkable bikeable committee to prioritize projects to include in the 2017 budget process to be undertaken in 2018, he said.

"I would expect that we'll be back in a short period of time with a much shorter list with some dollars and cents," Bevans said.

Directed staff to prepare an ordinance for first reading which would amend city code section 900 to allow beekeeping in residential areas in the city. City Planner Mark Ostgarden said an ordinance should be ready for a first reading at the April 3 council meeting. Currently, under city code section 900, bees are listed as farm animals and only allowed in zoning districts where farm animals are allowed.

Approved project plans for the 2017 chip seal project, which has an estimated cost of $143,152. Chip sealing extends the life of pavement on city streets and provides skid resistance. The city likes to chip seal roads which have been resurfaced within the last five years to try to extend the life of those streets, Bevans said. The streets planned for chip sealing this year are in north Brainerd in the neighborhood surrounding Gregory Park.

Directed staff to send all council members copies of the report generated by a citizens committee last year regarding the condition of city facilities. The council will revisit that report and a request for proposals for a professional study of city facilities at a later date.

1/4: The performance review form scores employees in 12 categories, which include: attendance/punctuality, attitude, professionalism, productivity - quality/quantity, ability to organize, meets project deadlines, ability to work with all staff, ability to work with public, ability to follow instructions, communication skills, training/leadership abilities and cooperative abilities - fairness and impartiality. Click picture to view entire page. Page 1 of 2.

2/4: The performance review form scores employees in 12 categories, which include: attendance/punctuality, attitude, professionalism, productivity - quality/quantity, ability to organize, meets project deadlines, ability to work with all staff, ability to work with public, ability to follow instructions, communication skills, training/leadership abilities and cooperative abilities - fairness and impartiality. Click picture to view entire page. Page 2 of 2.

3/4: For Thoreen's self-evaluation, he scored himself as meeting requirements for each of the 12 categories. He also provided letter grades on an A-F scale for each category. Overall, he scored his performance as a B-. Click picture to view entire page. Page 1 of 2.

4/4: For Thoreen's self-evaluation, he scored himself as meeting requirements for each of the 12 categories. He also provided letter grades on an A-F scale for each category. Overall, he scored his performance as a B-. Click picture to view entire page. Page 2 of 2.