John Mauro

Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro received exemplary marks, but drew some criticism from councilmembers following his yearly performance evaluation.

The evaluation instructed members of the city council to rate Mauro from 1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest score) on a variety of topics such as fiscal management and citizen relations.

Overall, members of the city council gave Mauro an average score of 4.405 out of 5 points for all categories. The city manager’s highest average score was in the  “reporting” category with a 4.63 out of 5 points, while his lowest average category score was for “relations with elected members of the governing body” where he received 4.06 out of 5 points.

Additionally, members of the Port Townsend City Council submitted feedback in short answer form regarding the city manager’s strengths, suggestions and advise for him, and areas for improvement.

The Leader obtained copies of results from each council members’ performance evaluation form via a public records request.

“John has a temper, and can sometimes ‘snap’ when stressed. Learning to better ‘give himself a timeout’ may help him manage that better,” said Councilmember Libby Wennstrom in her evaluation. “John protects his people, sometimes to a fault, and can sometimes ‘circle the wagons’ rather than digging in to address an issue properly and move forward.”

“As part of this, he will sometimes say what he thinks someone wants to hear, rather than speak plainly, and tell different parties different versions,” Wennstrom added.

HIGH MARKS FOR MAURO

Some members of the city council lauded Mauro for his long-term vision and foresight for the city’s future.

“John is great at establishing a strong vision for the future, communicating progress, listening to and balancing input from the public and stakeholders, responding to constructive criticism, and acknowledging mistakes.” Councilmember Owen Rowe said.

Port Townsend Mayor David Faber offered advice to the city manager in his evaluation, saying, “I worry about John’s relationships with some members of council. Councilmembers are not part of the city staff and not subject to management, and while I know John understands that, I worry that his concern about their individual activities (which could harm the city) of some councilmembers could unnecessarily create conflict.”

REVISED CRITICISM

When asked by The Leader to clarify his statement, Faber responded, “I shouldn’t have written what I did. Sometimes, as a part-time public official not accustomed to watching what I commit to writing, it’s easy to forget that what I write in an evaluation is so easily picked up and weaponized.”

“My commentary was directed at a minor communication issue that I just happened to have been actively addressing while I was filling out John’s performance evaluation, and so it snuck into my commentary,” Faber added. “John is an incredibly smart and talented city manager, and my comments make it sound like there was more smoke/fire there than there actually was. My commentary was not well made.”

In his evaluation, Councilmember Ben Thomas discussed and critiqued Mauro’s communication tendencies and leadership style.

“[He] tends to seek to control rather than collaborate. When challenged by staff, council or the public, he assumes a defensive stance and seems to prioritize ‘being right’ over progress. Is a great communicator, but doesn’t always use this superpower for good,” Thomas wrote. “[He] has a tendency to obscure direct information exchange by using jargon-laden managerial speak rather than forthright communication. This has the unfortunate effect of sowing distrust in those with pre-existing concerns about government, though it doesn’t seem to bother most people.”

Mauro responded to the evaluation results via an email with The Leader, saying: “I’ll be honest: It’s not been an easy year – for me or for the team – but I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished this past year and I think this is reflected in the review.”

“It’s included big wins on housing infrastructure and funding, pushing through constraints with understaffing and exciting new hires, getting major new agreements like the Mill Water Agreement over the line, and navigating a constellation of challenges exacerbated by COVID,” Mauro continued. “Winning a national award and a state award helps keep spirits up, too.”

MOVING FORWARD

The city manager also explained how he’ll address the feedback offered to him in regards to criticism from the public, councilmembers, or his peers.

“As I recall, some councilmembers listed this as needing improvement while others called this out as a strength. The first obvious thing is to follow up with each member and learn more from each about how I do this well and not so well and work through some real examples to deepen the learning,” Mauro continued. “I’m learning to slow down a bit when needed and when it really matters and to take the criticism in and let it sit. Even if it’s unfair criticism, time and deeper reflection helps me see another person’s perspective better and it might help them feel understood and build a better relationship.”

“That said, I do see at least two different kinds of criticism though – the constructive kind where there’s some nugget useful for professional or personal growth, and the destructive kind of personal attacks and un-civility. On the latter, I tend to communicate clear boundaries and expectations about what is acceptable and what is not,” Mauro added.

In their evaluations, councilmembers commended Mauro for his work as city manager, especially in regards to inter-governmental collaboration, innovation, communication, and other successes.

“John is a strong collaborator and bridge-builder - relations and cooperation between the city, county, port, and PUD and other agencies has never been higher, and that bodes well for our region’s future,” Wennstrom said. “John is consistently positive and upbeat, and models a ‘let’s figure out how to fix this’ attitude for the entire staff, rather than a ‘not my problem’ approach that often characterized City staff in the past … John is good at taking the ‘long view’ and seeing opportunities for long-term sustainability and planning. Over decades, this approach will serve the city well.”

The city manager started his position in August 2019 — previously serving as the chief sustainability officer for Auckland, New Zealand’s city council from 2014 to 2019 — and Mauro is approaching his third year at the helm in Port Townsend.

“Another way I intend to carry city council feedback forward into my work is to continue my journey (and the city’s journey) as a communicator,” Mauro told The Leader. “Translating wonky language and clearly communicating complex concepts requires practice. I intend to work really hard at that and find more new and creative ways to communicate and connect with our community.”