St. Augustine Commissioner Maggie Kostka has evaluated City Manager Bruce Max Royle with critical thinking skills, and eyes wide open.
Other Commissioners would do well to emulate her due diligence. Mendacious City "Manager" BRUCE MAX ROYLE has never had annual performance appraisals -- he's had three in 30 years, in 1990, 2014 and 2018.
O'BRIEN is an unjust steward refuses to do his job. Both ROYLE and O'BRIEN should resign.
Beach commissioner RICHARD BURTT O'BRIEN: ‘It’s inappropriate’ to evaluate city manager, police chief in publicBy Sheldon Gardner
Posted Sep 19, 2018 at 7:23 PM
Updated Sep 19, 2018 at 7:23 PM
St. Augustine Record
Performance reviews for the St. Augustine Beach city manager and police chief are supposed to be part of the basis for their salaries in the next budget year.
As part of a final budget hearing on Monday, commissioners will talk about the performance reviews for City Manager Max Royle and Police Chief Robert Hardwick.
But one commissioner said he won’t write a review. What’s more, the process for evaluations for the two positions appears to be inconsistent and unclear.
The focus is whether to keep the budget the same, with Hardwick receiving a 2.5 percent increase and Royle receiving a 1 percent increase based on the salary system the city has set up. Those increases would take the city manager from $120,009 to $121,209.14; Hardwick’s pay would increase from $98,758.75 to $101,227.72. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
While four of the five commissioners have already provided or agreed to provide a written evaluation of Hardwick and Royle for their work, Commissioner Rich O’Brien said he won’t.
In part, he said he prefers a more casual approach with one-on-one conversations.
“I do not feel that it is appropriate in a public setting to evaluate and discuss the evaluations of a department head in public,” he said. “I just think it’s inappropriate. I don’t like the idea. And, quite honestly, I don’t intend to — except for minor observations — I don’t intend to participate in that discussion.”
When asked about the value of having the written record both for the public and commissioners, he said someone could set up an appointment to discuss how they’re handling their responsibilities. He added that if anything serious arose, then the issue could be discussed at a meeting.
O’Brien said when he was mayor, he had weekly meetings with the city manager to sign checks. At that point, he would discuss what was happening. But O’Brien said he didn’t do structured evaluations each year.
After requesting information, it wasn’t clear as of Wednesday what written policy if any exists in St. Augustine Beach for city manager and police chief evaluations.
Written performance evaluations from 1990, 2014 and 2018 were in City Manager Max Royle’s personnel file, according to City Clerk Beverly Raddatz. It wasn’t clear how many other evaluations have been done over the years, verbally or otherwise.
Royle began working as city manager in July 1989. Hardwick, who started working as police chief in 2013, had evaluations from three years on file, St. Augustine Beach Administrative Lt. Kathi Harrell said.
Mayor Undine George said the evaluations of the police chief and city manager “have been very scattered.”
She said efforts to have evaluations were inconsistent both before she joined the commission and after.
George wrote an evaluation for Hardwick and Royle for their 2017 performance, and she said it’s her understanding that the Commission plans to do them at least annually. She also supports doing that.
Evaluations from George, Vice Mayor Margaret England and Commissioner Maggie Kostka were available. Commissioner Donald Samora had not submitted his evaluations at the time of the request for the documents, but he planned to send them to City Hall by Monday, according to the city.
The evaluations for Hardwick are positive and offer almost no recommendations for improvement. Commissioners praised Hardwick for a number of things, such as helping the department earn accreditation and increasing diversity, and for his handling of response to recent hurricanes.
In their reviews, Kostka offered a wide range of criticism for Royle, and George provided both compliments and criticism.
Among the concerns: The construction of Embassy Suites despite a 35-foot height limit, Royle’s handling of a sexual harassment allegation against a former city employee, the delay in getting a new sexual harassment policy, “lack of attention to detail” and inconsistent use of city policies.
“Good management requires constant, consistent direction and follow-up,” Kostka wrote. “Both direction and follow-up are lacking from the city manager”
While England criticized Royle’s oversight of the building department during the tenure of the previous building and zoning director, she was largely positive about Royle’s performance.
“There is no equal to Mr. Royle’s dedication and loyalty to the city of St. Augustine Beach,” according to England. “Without a doubt, Mr. Royle provides an excellent example of work ethic. As such, one area for improvement would be keeping a keen eye out for other managers and departments which do not adhere to this standard in work product and attitude, and demand improvement without hesitation.”
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