Post in Mayor Coleman - Please explain

May 14 04:51 UTC

On May 13, 2008, at 4:43 PM, John Krenik wrote:
> We are still waiting for your explanation, as to why you recently
> gave -------, director of public works, a $5,000 pay raise after his
> annual job performance review in light of ----- overspending of his
> department's budget by $4.2 million!

As I read this post, the following questions come to my mind (not that
I expect answers to any of them) - before I'm willing to pass any
judgements.

#1) Just where is this information about the pay raise coming from? I
did not see it in the articles that were referenced in the earlier
email. Is there any independent information about this "controversy?"

#2) Was this even a "performance" based pay raise, or was it a
scheduled increase in pay - over which the mayor had little control?
What were the terms of the contact that might be at work here?
Shouldn't we ask these questions, before demanding action?

#3) How does this pay increase compare to other department heads? For
that matter, how did overall performance compare?

#4) What were the full conditions under which the director of public
works was evaluated (assuming that such an evaluation even took
place). Surely, in a job of this nature, there is more to the job than
simply administering a budget. Were there any other factors that might
have influenced any decisions that were made?

#5) While, it seems clear that the department overspent its budget,
there are plenty of reasons why that might have happened short of
"mismanagement." Do we have any real reason to believe that there was
"mismanagement," or is this simple speculation? If it is
"speculation," is it sound management practice to suspend staff based
upon speculation?

#6) If we started suspending anyone that overspent their budget (even
once) - how many city, state, or national administrators would be
effected? I'm just curious.

#7) If the chief of police "overspends" their budget in an effort to
stem a crime wave or deal with a natural crisis, would we
automatically suspend them for "mismanagement", as well? If a public
works director faces an unusually large number of snowfalls in a given
season, should they quit plowing the streets for fear of being
"suspended," if they overspend their plowing budget.

#8) There is an implicit assumption in the previous post, that the
director of public works was alone responsible for overspending the
budget and that others were unaware that this was happening. Do we
have any real reason to believe this, or is it possible that others in
city hall were aware of the situation and that others approved of the
overspending - in response to unusual circumstances?

#9) Should the Mayor feel obligated to respond to any DEMAND posted by
a member of the public in this forum? If not, under what circumstances
should we expect a public response from the mayor? Does this situation
warrant such a public response?

#10) Is this discussion really about what could be an important public
policy issue or is it an attempt to score political points?

Ok, I better stop now - its getting late.

Best wishes,

Tim Erickson
Hamline Midway, St. Paul