Town Manager Receives High Marks in Annual Review 

The Amherst Town Council has given Town Manager Paul Bockelman a positive annual review, with a supermajority (nine or more councilors) rating his performance as “commendable” (meaning his performance surpassed reasonable expectations) or satisfactory in eight of 13 policy and management goals (Climate Action; Economic Vitality; Major Capital Building Investments; Administration and Leadership; Personnel Management; Finance; Community Engagement; Relationship with the Town Council; and Relationship with Higher Education Institutions) that had been established at the beginning of the year by the town council. A majority of councilors rated his performance as commendable or satisfactory in the five remaining policy and management goals that comprise the evaluation (Community Health and Safety; Housing Affordability; Racial Equity and Social Justice; and Infrastructure and Land Management).

Some councilors rated the Town Manager’s performance as needing improvement or as unsatisfactory in six of the 13 evaluation categories (Community Health and Safety; Housing Affordability; Racial Equity and Social Justice; and Infrastructure, Maintenance, and Land Management) but in no case did a majority of councilors offer these ratings for any specific goal.

The annual evaluation of the Town Manager is mandated by the town’s home rule charter Section 3.9.  The final draft evaluation report was compiled by Council President Lynn Griesemer based on input that she received form her fellow councilors.

The 26-page report offers a summary of expectations for each of the 13 goals, a compilation of the ratings of all 13 town councilors for each of the goals, and a qualitative summary of evaluations that were tendered by the councilors for each of the goals. While the public was invited to submit input to the evaluation process as were town board, commission, and committee members, and town employees, there is no summary provided of input from anyone other than the town’s 13 councilors.  The council received 23 responses from members of the public, 9 from members of boards and committees, and 52 from the town’s 321 employees.

The report is rich with praise and gratitude, emphasizes the difficulty of the job and the numerous challenges faced by the Town Manager in moving multiple projects forward while managing a large town staff that must attend to the multitude of tasks that keep the town running smoothly from day to day.  The introduction states:

“These ratings represent your significant achievement on an extensive set of goals, and demonstrate your capable leadership, both as a Manager of staff and in implementing policy. While some Policy and Management Goals received a number of ‘Needs Improvement’ or ‘Unsatisfactory’ ratings by some councilors, it was not a majority of the council. “

“You face and address a challenging and impossible number of goals and sub goals. Several councilors recognize this with comments such as:

“Overall I give Paul a high rating. We are lucky to have him as Town Manager. Even when I hear from residents about specific concerns, they indicate a positive view of his skill and management of a complex array of budget and service issues.”

 “As a Council and a Town, we ask much more of the Town Manager than any one person can accomplish. It is impossible for the Manager to exceed expectations (Commendable rankings) in all areas. Further, the rating system indicates that a Satisfactory performance is when the Manager meets reasonable expectations, and, as a Council, we always state that our expectation is that the Manager won’t be able to meet them all. Therefore, it may seem odd to give the Manager a rating of Satisfactory when all subgoals have not been met. But, the Manager’s performance meets the definition of Satisfactory when most of the sub-goals of an area of responsibility are met, even though areas of improvement can be identified.”

“With heartfelt thanks I wish to express my appreciation to all of our Town Staff and the Town Manager for the service you provide to the residents of Amherst every day.”

Indy’s Independent Evaluation of the Town Manager
The Indy is sponsoring a survey seeking public input on the Town Manager’s performance because the Town Manager is not accountable to the electoral process (he is appointed not elected) and public perceptions of his performance have been largely absent from his annual evaluation by the Town Council. The Indy will publish a report on the results of our survey after the first of the year and will share results with the Town Council and the Town Manager.  Complete the survey (deadline December 30).

Read More:  Town Manager’s Self Evaluation for 2024
                      Town Manager’s Performance Goals for 2024
          Previous Town Manager Reviews FY17-FY 24
Indy Invites Public Input for Town Manager Evaluation  (see also here)