BROOKSVILLE — As Jennene Norman-Vacha nears her 10th anniversary as Brooksville city manager, City Council members say she is meeting expectations.
7 Months Ago
3 Months Ago
8 Months Ago
In her annual evaluation, Norman-Vacha earns her highest scores in fiscal management and management of city assets.
However, council members also have identified a number of areas where they would like to see her performance improve. Her lowest scores in the recent evaluation were in community relations and management style.
Council member Natalie Kahler included two written reprimands as part of her evaluation.
Council members graded Norman-Vacha on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being "outstanding" and 1 being "needs improvement.” Longtime council member Joe Bernardini, who just returned to the council two months ago, did not grade Norman-Vacha, but rather wrote an assessment regarding various aspects of her performance.
Norman-Vacha, 53, who makes an annual salary of $96,617, signed her first contract with the city in May 2007.
The evaluations were compiled by Mayor Robert Battista, who as part of his duties as mayor reviewed the city manager’s past evaluations and file. The average overall rating was 3.06, which Battista said was slightly lower than previous evaluations.
Kahler reprimanded Norman-Vacha for her failure to communicate with a property owner over a fencing dispute on his property. While the issue was first raised in November 2015, the city manager failed to communicate adequately with the owner, and by July 2016 he was threatening a lawsuit.
The property owner was county Commissioner Wayne Dukes. And while Dukes shouldn’t be treated any differently than any other citizen, Kahler noted, given the tense relations between the city and the county "it does escalate the consequences of failing to behave professionally.”
Kahler also reprimanded Norman-Vacha for failing to keep the council informed about changes in department head positions, giving several recent examples.
Bernardini criticized the city manager for her handling of employee discipline cases, noting "termination rather than remediation dominates your approach.” He also urged her to make a priority of mending fences with county government and being a better communicator with council members.
He said management of the city Fire Department is "sadly lacking” and that its connections through Chief David Freda to the problems with the Hernando Beach Volunteer Fire Department, where Freda used to be chief, would reflect badly on Betgram the city if repeated in Brooksville. Bernardini said he expected "tight oversight” by Norman-Vacha.
Council member Bill Kemerer credited Norman-Vacha for her "dedication to the position, responsiveness and assistance to city council members, (and) historical knowledge of both the city and the actions of past councils.” He also urged her to delegate more of her routine duties to staff and work on the city/county relationship issues.
Getting more information to council members faster was recommended by council member Betty Erhard.
Battista also wanted more timely notice of key staff changes, as well as an updating of city policies. And he cautioned Norman-Vacha about hiring senior staff members with little experience in areas where she has expertise.
"It is expedient,” he noted, "but can have serious consequences."
The council is expected to review and approve Norman-Vacha’s evaluation on Monday.
Contact Barbara Behrendt at bbehrendt@tampabay.com or (352) 848-1434.
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