City manager gets mixed review.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor on Wednesday survived his third annual job review by the City Council, but took some lumps along the way.

Taylor got high marks from most of the eight-member council and Mayor Kitty Piercy, though Taylor heard that he and his staff need to do a better job of communicating with councilors and following the council's direction.

"I support you; I think you are doing a great job," said Councilor Andrea Ortiz. "But there are some areas that are lacking."

Councilors completed a written evaluation of Taylor and made comments after discussing Taylor's performance with him in an hour-long closed meeting.

Taylor acknowledged that he and his staff could do a better job of responding to councilors' questions.

"I'm committed to meeting your expectations to improving in relationship building and communication," Taylor told councilors.

Councilors are soon expected to decide whether they'll give Tayor a salary hike. He now earns $133,515 annually. His total compensation, including deferred pay, car allowance and retirement, equals $151,726.

As in past years, the city manager received most criticism from three councilors: Bonny Bettman, David Kelly and Betty Taylor.

Their comments highlight a difference that they have with the council majority and Taylor, who, as the city's top bureaucrat, carries out council policy.

"It is the Tale of Two City Managers," Bettman wrote in her evaluation. "One for the insiders, and a different one if you are deemed an outsider."

Kelly, Bettman and Taylor faulted the city manger for not responding promptly to their requests for information, sometimes ignoring the council's direction, and playing politics.

"I see you time after time trying to make policy instead of trying to implement policy," Betty Taylor said.

Kelly declined to fill out a written evaluation of Dennis Taylor because he said he made the same complaints last year and nothing changed.

"The council-manager form of government is fine with me," Kelly said. "But for it to work, the council and the manager need to feel like a team. And I simply haven't had that feeling."

Bettman leveled the harshest criticism against Taylor. "Dennis doesn't seem attentive to political realities in the community as long as he has a majority of votes on the council," she said in her written evaluation. "He is, however, very attuned to the universe of political reality on council, in order to get the slim majority he needs. This is a divisive strategy, which does not benefit the community."

Councilors graded Taylor in several areas, using a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied) in each area. They also gave Taylor an overall rating.

Piercy, Solomon, Poling, Ortiz and Pryor gave Taylor an overall rating of 4 or more. Pape gave Taylor a "4- or 3+" overall rating. Kelly and Betty Taylor both awarded Taylor a 2.5. Bettman gave him a 1.

In spite of the criticism, Taylor's job seems secure. Piercy and councilors Gary Pape, George Poling, Chris Pryor, Ortiz and Jennifer Solomon praised him.

"You are the consummate professional city manager," Solomon said. "I see your role sort of two fold: looking out for (city government), and I think you really do an outstanding job of that. And of course, implementing the decisions that we make."

Even Kelly said that Taylor does a "great job" of managing the internal operations of city government.

Still, some of Taylor's supporters told him to do better at making sure the council meetings aren't crowded with so many important, time-consuming items, and to be more forthcoming with information.

Pape, for example, urged Taylor to be as candid with councilors as he would be with his assistant, Jim Carlson.

"It should be that kind of candid communication all the time, within the bounds of our (City) Charter," he said.

Pape, who thought Taylor gave Oregon Research Institute too many chances to buy the former Sears site downtown, a sale that ultimately flopped, said: "When it's an issue you and I aren't together on, maybe there is some information that is withheld, or there is defensiveness. And the information should come out regardless of how you think a councilor is going to deal with it."