Council Sets Goals for City Manager

In his annual evaluation from the City Council, City Manager Rick Eckert was commended for taking his job when the city was “in a time of flux” shortly before the start of the fiscal 2010 budget.

Each of the five council members completed evaluations, which weren’t available for individual release. The city did, though, provide Patch with a summary of the evaluations.

Members said his strengths were oral and written communication skills and interpersonal skills.

They recognized him for “hurriedly” preparing the fiscal 2010 budget, which began on July 1, 2010. Eckert, who started in May 2010, told Patch that he started to tackle the budget from scratch two months after a preliminary one should have been completed.

“You’re talking about a challenge,” he joked. “Pretty much the past two years have been focused on budget and finding out how things work. We’re hoping the worst is behind us, but of course, the stock market isn’t looking too good.”

But, he said, the city is working hard to keep employees in place while ensuring services are delivered to citizens.

Other challenges noted in the evaluation that he took on when hired were implementing new financial software and laying off employees—five full-time and nine part-time positions were eliminated in 2010. But since some positions were vacant, not all eliminations resulted in people being fired, Eckert said.

This past year, the evaluation says, “a great deal of (Eckert’s) time and attention” has been devoted to the investigation and of former police chief , as well as the hiring of the and .

Below are the goals the council set for this fiscal year for Eckert. Some of these items are already being worked on, the city manager told Patch.

• Find ways to encourage businesses to locate to Powder Springs
• Visit all current businesses
• Improve communications with citizens and employees
• Institute ways to ensure the council receives information in a timely manner
• Maintain a call log which you will use to list your calls, date and time received, as well as the resolution. Return all calls the same day; if call is late in day, return the following morning
• Implement a work order system that will track repairs and services to ensure follow through on projects. This work order system should allow better use of staff and help with long-range planning
• Investigate and recommend new revenue sources for the city.
• Stay involved with what is happening in other municipalities in Georgia and continue to network with the county and city managers
• Have the fiscal year 2013 budget prepared for mayor and council’s preliminary review by March 2012
• Closely monitor current budget to ensure that it is not overspent

“We look forward to working with you the coming year and hope that you are able to make significant progress on these stated goals and objectives,” the evaluation reads.