NORTHEAST OREGON NOW FILE PHOTO
Hermiston City Manager Ed Brookshier will enter into his final year on the job with the full support of the mayor and city council.
The Hermiston City Council and Mayor Dave Drotzmann met with Brookshier in an executive session Monday night to go over his performance evaluation. Drotzmann released a letter to the media that he wrote to Brookshier outlining the council’s evaluation of the city manager’s performance during the past year.
“Over the last year, we have appreciated the city manager’s willingness to be open minded to change and to be patient with the new mayor and councilors,” said Drotzmann in his letter. “We have appreciated all your years of hard work and dedication to this great city and you should be proud of where the city is today and your hand in helping to shape it.”
Brookshier is Hermiston’s third city manager. He was hired in 1991 and will have served 23 years when he retires on Dec. 31, 2014. He signed a contract extension in December 2012 that pays him $109,132 annually.
The council and the mayor evaluated Brookshier in 10 categories and scored his performance in those areas on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). As part of the evaluation, Brookshier rated himself in each category. Those categories are listed below with the council/mayor’s combined average score along with Brookshier’s score:
• Individual Characteristics (council/mayor: 4.07; Brookshier: 4.0)
• Professional Skills/Status (council/mayor: 4.20; Brookshier: 3.8)
• Relations with Elected Members of the Governing Body (council/mayor: 4.07; Brookshier: 3.8)
• Policy Execution (council/mayor: 4.02; Brookshier: 3.6)
• Reporting (council/mayor: 4.42; Brookshier: 4.6)
• Citizen Relations (council/mayor: 3.40; Brookshier: 3.6)
• Staffing (council/mayor: 4.09; Brookshier: 4.4)
• Supervision (council/mayor: 3.64; Brookshier: 3.6)
• Fiscal Management (council/mayor: 4.73; Brookshier: 4.6)
• Community (council/mayor: 3.97; Brookshier: 4.0)
Drotzmann said he and the council were pleased with Brookshier’s role in the development of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center and the new waste water treatment plant, as well as the ongoing work to create the Oxbow Trail. The city manager received the highest marks for his fiscal management.
“You were rated very high for your fiscal responsibility to the city and your ability to research with great detail the issues at hand and to provide that information to the council and the public,” the mayor wrote.
Brookshier’s lowest rating came in the area of citizen relations.
“The council feels that your ability to address adversity professionally and not defensively so as to be offensive is a weakness,” Drotzmann said in his letter to Brookshier. “We would like the city manager to be more professional in his responses and mannerisms while addressing situations of controversy.”
Following the executive session, the council reconvened in open session and talked about Brookshier’s long service to the city of Herimston, as well as the process for finding a successor.
“I truly believe you’ve got to be one of the hardest-working city managers,” Droztmann said.
In 2005, Brookshier received the League of Oregon Cities’ Herman Kehrli Award, given to a city employee who has made exceptional contributions to city government in Oregon that have produced lasting benefits to local communities.
The mayor and the city council will soon be interviewing consulting firms in order to find a new city manager.
“This is probably the largest decision we will make over the next 10 years,” Drotzmann said.
