Florence manager's tenure to come to an end, adding to city turnover.Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard FLORENCE - The City Council ousted manager Rodger Bennett on Tuesday, citing concerns about his management of employees and his progress on important projects. The move comes only a few weeks after city planner and public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. director Linda Sarnoff quit, saying she couldn't get along with Bennett and that the workload of the combined posts was unbearable. And it means tough times ahead for the City of Rhododendrons, which is faced with finding a new police chief, public works director, planning director and city manager all in the next several months. "There's no turmoil at City Hall," Mayor Phil Brubaker said Tuesday. But there'll be plenty of turnover for the remainder of 2006. City Councilor coun·cil·or also coun·cil·lor n. A member of a council, as one convened to advise a governor. See Usage Note at council. coun Nan Osbon said the council's consensus was clear that Bennett must go after he failed to improve in several key areas despite a detailed performance evaluation Performance evaluation The assessment of a manager's results, which involves, first, determining whether the money manager added value by outperforming the established benchmark (performance measurement) and, second, determining how the money manager achieved the calculated return listing his deficiencies. Most troubling was the departure of city employees, Osbon said. Two finance directors, two city planners, one public works director and the police chief all quit during Bennett's five years at City Hall. "No communication," Osbon said was the root of the problem. "This is why we didn't give him a very good review, because of a lack of communication. He doesn't keep people involved in what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. and then expects them to do a perfect job." Bennett said little in his own defense Tuesday and refused to provide a copy of his performance evaluation to The Register-Guard. "No single person can claim credit for accomplishments or shoulder the blame for any particular failure," he said. Brubaker said Bennett is a "demanding" manager, reticent to chastise chas·tise tr.v. chas·tised, chas·tis·ing, chas·tis·es 1. To punish, as by beating. See Synonyms at punish. 2. To criticize severely; rebuke. 3. Archaic To purify. employees in public. But in private, the people who worked for him wanted a better application of the "carrot and stick Carrot and stick (also spelled "carrot-and-stick")[1] is an idiom used to refer to the act of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior. The carrot represents the edible reward, while the stick refers to a punishing switch. " method of management. "When to carrot and when to stick, is the way I'd characterize some of the difficulties," Brubaker said. Bennett also didn't make enough progress to satisfy the council in long-term planning goals, making sure future drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. and stormwater needs are met and that Florence adequately plans for the growth that has swamped nearly everyone who has worked for the city in recent years. But the final straw was Sarnoff's resignation, Osbon said, which upset several members of the planning commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle . Osbon said she also has received several calls from community members concerned about Sarnoff's departure. "They love Linda," Osbon said. "They like her work, her background, her contacts, everything she offered to the city. The planning commission was really 100 percent behind her." Initially, some members of the council wanted Bennett to resign right away. But the city manager balked balk v. balked, balk·ing, balks v.intr. 1. To stop short and refuse to go on: The horse balked at the jump. 2. at that, arguing it would leave city projects in the lurch and make for a rough transition period if someone has to fill the job temporarily. In the end, the council agreed that Bennett would serve out his contract through December, and then resign - unless a new city manager can be hired and spend a month learning the ropes before then. If that happens, Bennett will earn severance pay Severance Pay Compensation that an employer gives to someone who is about to lose their job. Notes: Severance pay is not always paid to employees. It depends on the situation in which the employee is losing their job and whether legislation requires severance to be paid. . Brubaker laid out a plan for the upcoming leadership changes on Tuesday. Next month, the council will start its search for a new city manager, hire a temporary planning director from the Lane Council of Governments and oversee Bennett's selection of a new police chief. In July, Bennett will hire a Springfield company to oversee public works projects in the city, and the council will begin the first of a series of "transition planning and evaluation" sessions, to make sure things are going smoothly. |
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