It’s a story that should be boring, and we wish that it was. But this is Corvallis, and when someone feels pushed most everyone watching assumes there will be a pushback.
Let us explain. Tonight, the Corvallis City Council will likely hire an outside evaluator to help them rate City Manager Mark Shepard’s job performance this last year. But concerns have arisen that there is an agenda behind that.
Shepard serves at the Council’s pleasure, and they set his pay. They usually just evaluate him on their own. But months ago, there was discussion among the Councilors that bringing in a neutral and objective third-party may be a good idea this time around.
After all, Shepard, like most city managers nationwide, has stirred both praise and criticism among the general public he serves. And among City Councilors, Shepard has both fans and critics. So maybe bringing in someone that regularly reviews city managers throughout the country would offer both perspective and a fairer process.
But that may not be what’s happening. And many city officials and longtime city hall watchers are calling foul. Ward 9 Councilor Tony Cadena has expressed concern about the role of anonymous comment in the evaluation process. There is worry that someone with an axe to grind could foment a plurality of negative and anonymous comment about Shepard which could be used as a cudgel to sack him.
And there are folks seen as having an axe to grind. Two of them are Ward 7 Councilor and City Council President Paul Shaffer and Ward 5 City Councilor and Council Vice-president Charlyn Ellis. Shepard is often seen as a driving force behind a failed 2023 attempt to oust Ellis from the Council. Shaffer was a staunch Ellis ally throughout the ordeal.
And, well, it just so happens that as president and vice-president of the Council, Shaffer and Ellis are leading the process to choose the evaluator, and so far, it appears the Council will approve their giving final notes on the ultimate evaluation report as well.
Cadena has also raised concerns about the favored evaluator’s level of experience doing these kinds of evaluations.
And there is worry the Council has rushed headlong into considering only one option for an evaluator, the Lane Council of Governments, or LCOG. They sound like a good organization. But in Council deliberations it was revealed LCOG didn’t have anyone on staff with experience performing the type of evaluation being contemplated, so they would have to hire a subcontractor to get it done.
Weeks ago, they located someone to do the work. Her name is Jennifer L. Stapleton, and Cadena has been asking for her resume ever since. Finally, the City published one last Wednesday, which shows decades of human resources experience, but no specific instances of conducting an evaluation of a city’s topmost administrator.
As all this was gaining steam, freshman Councilor Carolyn Mayers tried to introduce a competing bid from Baker Tilly, a national consultancy firm with extensive experience evaluating city managers around the country, and the Council flat ignored the proposal.
Voting in favor of LCOG before Mayers could even state her case were five councilors: Alison Bowden, Briae Lewis, Charlyn Lewis, Paul Shaffer, and Ava Olson. It’s still early in this Council’s term, but these five Councilors already appear to generally vote as a block.
Voting no were Councilors Jan Napack, Carolyn Mayers, and Tony Cadena, who also often vote similarly to one another. Councilor Jim Moorefield also voted no.
Perception matters
Here is our analysis. Onlookers could imaginably see the Council majority’s actions and think a railroading is afoot. We won’t offer our view on that for now. But if the ultimate City Manager evaluation is largely negative, the Council may find it impossible to persuade voters they’ve been fair.
How many voters? Maybe not even a majority, but plurality enough that the Council should worry. After all, these are voters that show up to decide on operating levies and such.
A more robustly normative process could allay these perceptions.
Firstly, and we’re not criticizing, because these things happen, the Council either started too late, or didn’t move quickly enough. The evaluation is due in October. LCOG’s own proposed deadline doesn’t conclude until December.
It would probably be best for the Council to conduct this year’s evaluation on their own, like they usually do.
They could then look ahead to having a third-party evaluator in place for next year; following a more customary process. Usually, when a City Council seeks this kind of consultancy, they issue a Request for Proposal and actively seek and entertain competing bids and methods.
The perception by some that Ellis and Shaffer may not be entirely impartial is more difficult. Whether fair or not, some will see the evaluation as an opportunity for pushback after the City’s attempt to oust Ellis. Some would see a pushback as deserved, and others very much not.
But within the Council’s divides there may be a solution; form a subcommittee for selecting, vetting and overseeing whatever evaluator is chosen. Populate that subcommittee with an equal number from each of the Council’s two factions.
In any event, it’s a performance evaluation. Let’s all hope for something mercifully boring.
Some afterthoughts and notes
Costs: It initially appeared that LCOG’s evaluation would cost $10,000; that bid is now $12,500. For comparison, the Baker Tilly bid Mayers secured was for $12,000.
Peer review negotiation: The evaluation will include input from Shepard’s peers, and the idea is to have both the evaluatee and council agree on who those folks are.
So far, there seems to be agreement over Benton County Administrator Rachel McEneny, Corvallis Schools Superintendent Ryan Noss, and someone from Oregon State University’s leadership. It also seems there’s agreement that the City Managers from Albany and Philomath will be included as peer reviewers.
There are a couple of names that have raised some objections. So, it’s worth keeping an eye on this negotiation.
That ouster attempt: When the City Council’s Leadership Committee initiated proceedings to oust Ward 5 Councilor Charlyn Ellis in late 2023, they offered written and video evidence in support of their arguments. It was balderdash. The scuttlebutt at the time, and even now, was that Shepard had at least something to do with it.
However, in March of this year, Mayor Maughan went on record taking full responsibility. He stated clearly, even after a Federal Court ruled against the City’s actions, that he believed that Ellis should have stood before the full City Council for judgement instead of the court.
The City’s Leadership Committee works directly with the Mayor, who sets the ultimate agenda for the City Council. Members at the time the Ellis matter was put on the agenda included not only Maughan, but also, City Manager Mark Shepard, then City Attorney James Brewer, former City Council President Tracey Yee, and Former City Council Vice President Hyatt Lytle.
We may never know exactly what happened. At the time, we talked with everyone on Leadership, and none of them were willing to disclose how the matter arose or who initiated what.
In our view: We hope the pending evaluation is not a pushback of some kind. Corvallis, like most municipalities, has enough problems on its plate without that sort of thing.
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com