one

I'd start off by saying I am very uncomfortable with this process that has been required of us. There's a saying that you praise in public and you discipline in private. And I don't care for the way that we have to go, but unfortunately this is the way, where we're at.. I do have some serious concerns, and some that have been echoed here with respect to the leadership skills. I see that in the time that I've been a county commissioner. Slow to make operational decisions and fails to delegate to staff, and micromanages it at all levels within the organization. I think you have a real difficulty to let go. You create an environment where I think decision making is not encouraged or rewarded. Your tendency is to is to seize the arguments or seize the issue and run with it, not allowing staff to to flush out their position or their philosophies. With respect to the budget and our financial situation, I feel that there's been failure to practically manage the financial matters related to the structural deficit which we identified well over a year ago. There is no long range financial planning as it relates to the budget, and we have been unresponsive to a changing economic environment. Right now we're sitting at probably a million in reserves. The use of reserves to balance the budget, and when I look at the economic factors that have been discussed or used in developing the budget for '07/'08, the assumptions were that economic activity would remain stable, property tax revenue would grow nearly 25%, and taxable sales were projected to increase at 10%. Likewise, development activity would likely be at similar levels as the last five years. I mean we're working off of projections that are so far off the mark that why we're in the predicament that we are in, I can understand. I I think that when we try to embrace the performance audits, and this board gave you direction you were slow to embrace the, the responsibility. I don't see that we have a real comprehensive strategic approach to economic development and diversification, but I can't necessarily blame you as much as I can blame all of us. I think Nancy's correct in that we have not clearly articulated what it is that are our priorities going forward. I think that we have a tendency to focus on gaming and retail as well as residences, but not really look at the big picture in terms of what, where can we involve the airport in this picture of economic development, or manufacturing, or education, or the like. I feel that, you know, for so many years that you've built more of a caretaker role rather than being proactive and progressive, and with respect to communication within the organization, I think that there is certainly not enough of that either within the organization or with other elected officials. And I think that my perception is that public confidence in your ability to manage your organization is in decline. Decision making, decisive decision making is something that I don't see enough of. And we're probably at fault here, too, because we have a tendency to delay or postpone decisions that we need to make. A good example I think is the business license. I think we needed to call the ball and decide are we going to ramp up and move forward with that, and we didn't. With respect to management skills, I am very much concerned that I see that there was a violation of your own ICMA code of ethics as it relates to the integrity. I don't believe you have the respect and the confidence of elected officials, other employees and the public. The incident I speak of is most recent, and you are aware of it. To planning and communication within the organization, I believe that in this last year you've dominated and driven decisions within Community Development. And the adherence to the master plan and its process has been ignored. I think that we've seen that with the Hillbilly Hotel and the height variances, is one, as well as with Riverwood Development and the COD garage. I believe there is a propensity to placate developers at the expense of the master plan, and that I find very disconcerting. It's been mentioned again, I think there is a failure to delegate to the staff and relinquish control, and some of these are reiterated because of the format of the evaluation. Micromanages and does not encourage decision making where appropriate. I think as it relates to policies within the organization, financial policies, we all take responsibility here, but we've violated our own budget policy by allowing for the use of reserves. I think all of us need to take ownership over that. I would have liked to have seen perhaps some alternatives, And I think that if we had seized the issue early on, I think we could have started making decisions early, I mean a year ago, that would have had better impact on our budget today. A good example would be I think the sick leave and vacation buyback. If we would have discontinued that program early last March, or whenever, we'd find ourselves in a better position today where we may have saved $100-$140k. That kind of visioning and forecasting I think is something that needs to take place because right now we clearly find ourselves behind the eight ball. I believe that there's the, an issue about organizational, managerial skills to direct the organization and staff. You do have a work ethic that is second to none. There's no doubt about it, but it's the issues are you providing leadership and direction, or are you actually in the ditch digging the hole. And that's where I see the tendency is to get down and do the work. I mentioned to you before the idea of being more of a deckhand. I think you have a tendency to gravitate to tasks that are familiar to you and to focus on those. Focus is on more of today, not tomorrow. We need more of a proactive, rather than a reactive approach to managing. I think your work with the board. I think that your work there is fine. I did mention I think you were slow to respond to performance audits and cost cutting measures. I tend to think that from a decision making standpoint, you are reluctant to make, or deal with difficult issues, especially when it comes to personnel. You are an awfully nice guy and to have to look at somebody in the eye and to make hard and fast decisions can be difficult for you as well as anybody else. I think the time management and tardiness issue, we talked about this last year, and it continues to be a problem despite countless warnings from myself, Kelly, Doug. It sends the wrong message to the staff and to the community, and that has to be an issue that needs to be addressed. I think that in terms of presenting alternative revenue sources to meet the county's fiscal needs, I think here in this last year, the tendency was to take the path of least resistance and pursue sources of revenue that do not require voter approval. I said it before, I think our focus first and foremost should have been on reduction of expenditures before we start to ask the community to reach into their pocket. With respect to the North County retail center, I am genuinely concerned about the development agreement and the OPA with Riverwood Development. I feel there was a lack of due diligence, lack of full disclosure, and quite frankly favoritism to the developer at the expense of the county, and I think that there is tremendous risk that we have exposed ourselves to down the road, and I hope to God I'm wrong. With that I would like to read just some comments that I wrote. This past year has been troubling and difficult, at best, as it relates to your work performance. The challenges have been focused on personnel, financial management and leadership issues. While I have addressed my concerns briefly on your evaluation form, I am compelled to provide additional information as it relates to the following areas: Moral leadership. Honesty, integrity and trust are the cornerstone of healthy relationships in any organization. It is incumbent that the leadership of the county display these characteristics and is a role model for staff as in our stated goals. Recent actions on your part have underscored the appearance of favoritism towards employees and a general disregard for exercising ethical behavior. Trust of the county manager within the organization among elected officials and members of the community is at a pronounced low. The perception is that you serve the best interests of the development community rather than the interests of all people. Within respect to organizational leadership, last year during your evaluation I focused on your propensity to be more of a deckhand rather than the ship's captain who focuses on the future and navigates the direction of the ship. This past year has not produced a material change in your leadership style. You continue to micromanage staff rather than empower them, and your refusal to delegate continues to be a problem. Decision making is slow and difficult for you to exercise when it involves tough decisions for issues in individuals. Holding your directors and staff accountable in setting high expectations needs to be the order of the day. Increased communication throughout the organization and with elected officials needs to be more commonplace and direct. While I am strongly encouraged by the efforts for the workshop series, they need to be more substantive and specific to issues facing the county. With respect to the strategic leadership, focus on critical issues such as the budget and our structural deficit has not been proactive and shows a lack of fiscal responsibility. The absence of long range financial planning and lack of initiative, or reluctance to respond to the financial challenges have exacerbated our budget problems through the use of reserves. Raising revenues through the business license and utility tax without serious examination of cost cutting opportunities within the organization sends the wrong the message to the community and further erodes the public's trust and confidence in our ability to manage the county's finances. In conclusion I would say simply that the vision and values of the community as reflected in the master plan have not been embraced by the county manager during the past year. The North County development has seen development code variances driven not by best planning practices but by economic potential. This approach is becoming commonplace throughout our county where we are forever changing the dynamics and skyline of our community. As troublesome as the lack of transparency in how we conduct business at times, open meeting law violations and complaints are on the rise, and public confidence in how we function as a governmental entity is in decline. In order to restore the public's trust in government, I believe a change of leadership in the county manager office is critical and necessary. I would respectfully request a motion for a vote of no-confidence in our county manager.