The annual private performance evaluation of City Manager Mike Martin reflects the deep divide evident publicly in the Burien City Council.
The four majority members of the City Council rated Martin outstanding or very strong in all five evaluated categories while the three minority members said Martin’s performance was not developed or underdeveloped in all areas.
Martin’s evaluation was obtained by a public records request. Lawmakers were not expecting their remarks to be made public so were quite candid about Martin and the dysfunction between council members.
Mayor Brian Bennett and former Deputy Mayor Rose Clark gave Martin the highest rating (5, outstanding) across the board.
Former long-time Mayor Joan McGilton rated Martin a 5 overall with 4’s (very strong) on community relations and communication. The other categories were intergovernmental relations, policy making/vision implementation and management of organization.
Councilmember Gerald Robison gave an overall rating of 4 (very strong) with the outstanding marks in intergovernmental relations and management of organization.
On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Lucy Krakowiak said the city manager was “not developed” (1) in all areas.
The newest lawmaker, Bob Edgar gave Martin all 1’s except for a 2 in organization management.
Councilmember Jack Block Jr. also rated Martin with all 1’s except for a 2 (Underdeveloped) in intergovernmental relations.
The accompanying comments were as polarized as the ratings.
Mayor Bennett said, “Mike has gone above and beyond the duty in his efforts to communicate with council, despite the obstructive and inappropriate conduct of certain council members.”
However, when asked to list Martin’s achievements in the past year, Deputy Mayor Krakowiak noted, “Unable to identify any.”
Perhaps, Martin’s strongest defender was Clark.
“There is a small vocal minority that are very angry at Mike because they could not force their way on the SMP (Shoreline Management Plan,) density around Lake Burien, comp(rehensive) plan amendments, the first annexation and now the zoning code maps,” Clark said. “However, it is remarkable that this number is so small in a city of 47,000, the majority of whom are comfortable with the professionalism of Mike.”
Edgar commented, “The City Manager has contact with 5 of the 7 council members and has limited contact with 2 of 7 council members. Providing the council with reasonable access to information appears to be selective. Actions do not always encourage mutual honesty, respect and trust.”
Countered McGilton, “Against all common sense, Mike continues to try to communicate with the council members who can only find fault in his work performance.”
But Block charged, “Mr. Martin consistently withholds information from council and is selective as to which council members receive certain items of information. Rather than a full CM (council meeting) briefing, Mr. Martin only shares information that is specifically asked for.”
Martin reacted to the negative ratings and comments:
“However, I need to correct the record; the remarks written by Deputy Mayor Krakowiak and Councilmembers Block and Edgar intended to support their ratings are entirely untrue, and easily refutable. As such, those evaluations lack actionable substance.
“It is unclear what they are meant to accomplish other than to underscore the fact that, for their own reasons, Lucy, Jack and Bob simply dislike me personally.”
In his self-evaluation, Martin said he was very strong in community relations, competent in intergovernmental relations, competent in communication, very strong in policy making/vision implementation and very strong in management of organization.
