shiawasseecounty.net

CITY MANAGER EVALUATION

I recently was informed that Mr. Geutschow was being re-evaluated and wondered why this was being done at this particular time. I subsequently learned that these evaluations are done on a somewhat regular basis, with no specific time frame such as every year or two. I was also informed that Mr. Geutschow does not have a formal contract of employment with the City. I find both of these things a little strange, but, nevertheless, here is my evaluation.

Mr. Geutschow has been our manager for the past seventeen years and there is no doubt that he runs the show. I believe he has done a questionable job of handling the City’s finances and balancing the budget. I believe that Mr. Geutschow has too much power, or thinks he does. He does not always consider the council’s wishes and certainly not the wishes of the people when deciding on priorities in the budget. More often than not, I think that he unilaterally decides these things, and then simply attempts to persuade the Council to go along with him. This has worked well in the past for him with previous councils, but I’m not so sure it has always served the citizens best interests.

Another aspect of Mr. Geutschow’s job performance bothers me. In my opinion, he is not a people person, one who is able to get out into the community and work with the citizens and come up with new ideas that would benefit us all and give us more hope for the future of Owosso. Mr. Geutschow has demonstrated, I believe, that he is not the person who can do this. We need someone who is more in tune with the people and what they want rather than someone who is more concerned with just promoting his own agenda. While I am not questioning his character or integrity, I am questioning his ability to interact with people, which I believe is very important.

Would I give Mr. Geutschow an acceptable evaluation? I would probably not on strictly a financial basis, and certainly not for managerial skills and for his knowledge of what a majority of our citizens want for Owosso.

There is one final consideration, that is, the expense of retaining Mr. Geutschow versus the expense of hiring someone else. There would most certainly be a substantial cost savings to the City if a new person is hired at a lesser salary. I would think that this could be accomplished without compromising the financial stability of the City. In these tough economic times, this point should not ever be overlooked.

Let me conclude with a quote from Antoinette Brown Blackwell.
.“The brain is not, and cannot be, the sole or complete organ of thought and feeling.”

Thank you,
Gary Martenis
705 Lingle, Owosso Mi
989-723-2655

I've read your evaluation of Owosso's City manager, and I think you're right on target. For your consideration, I'm also including a Wikipedia link which defines the generally accepted roles and responsibilities of a City manager in our style of government.

Here is the link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_manager

You probably already know this stuff, but it may be helpful!

Now you know..........................?