By Kim McDarison

Five members of Whitewater’s city staff came to the podium Tuesday to offer comments in support of Whitewater City Manager John Weidl.

The comments were presented following a brief discussion referencing an item placed on the agenda by Councilwoman Jill Gerber, regarding “budget goals” for the city manager.

Opening the discussion, Councilman Neil Hicks — citing a goal listed on a memorandum included within the council packet and outlining the establishment of an “annual City Gala Event” — noted that he would like to see a large group of people included in the event.

A memorandum, which was compiled by Weidl at the request of Gerber, listed goals which had been previously identified for completion by the former city manager, Cameron Clapper, and included the development of an annual gala. According to the memo, the concept called for the establishment of an event which would serve as “a platform for promoting and recognizing city accomplishments as well as the influential citizens responsible for making great things happen in Whitewater.” Further, the memorandum noted, the event “will include all board, committee and commission members as well as presentations and information on city operations.”

The memorandum identified the gala as a project for which establishing steps were not taken by the city’s former administration. Within the memo, Weidl wrote: “After asking staff what they wanted through a survey, we decided on the annual employee luncheon held at the Cravath Lakefront Park, with the first one happening this year. We sent out a satisfaction survey and will be continuing the tradition onward with some tweaks going forward.”

During discussion, Hicks said that while he believed an appreciation luncheon for city staff members was “good,” he said he didn’t believe it was in keeping with the objective of the goal. He asked for something that would extend beyond city staff, further suggesting that the city might host two events, one for city staff and one with an ability to bring broader inclusivity, something more in line with a “citywide, community-wide type deal,” he said. 

Councilwoman Lisa Dawsey Smith noted that from her conversations with the former city manager, she believed his desire also was to make broader recognitions.

“He was specifically looking for an opportunity to recognize the volunteer contribution in the many boards and commissions that exist as well,” Dawsey Smith said. 

During the discussion, and addressing Weidl, Gerber, citing an “oversight” goal, said she hoped to see, as outlined in the memo, the “successful completion of 90% or more of all department goals and objectives provided as part of the 2022-23 budget.”

“I just want to see that carried forward, I guess, with your goals. I mean I don’t care what the percentage is, but I do think at some level we need higher performing — and higher management — is performing to managing them. So I would like to see that carried forward. I’m also interested, with the new budget, to be reviewing the goals and I’m wondering if we can get those. I don’t know if we get those beforehand or if those are added after, but I’d like to see the department goals,” she said. 

Goals, objectives, and a city manager review process have been ongoing topics of discussion advanced by several council members over the last few months, including David Stone and Council President Jim Allen, both of whom have expressing an interest in hiring an attorney to represent the council in matters related to “employees it directly oversees,” which, by definition, according to Weidl, is the city manager. More recently, Allen has requested that the council consider “retaining an outside law firm to advise the common council on employee discipline and termination matters,” as noted on Tuesday’s city council agenda under future agenda items.

Also in recent months, Gerber and Hicks have placed on the agenda several items, looking, at a granular level, at goals, objectives, and other managerial processes overseen by the city manager.

Support from staff members

On Tuesday, staff members who came forward in support of Weidl’s management style included Whitewater Police Chief Dan Meyer, Whitewater Fire and EMS Chief Kelly Freeman, Whitewater Human Resources Director Sara Marquardt, Whitewater City Clerk Karri Anderberg, and Whitewater Administrative Assistant for Economic Development Bonnie Miller.

Addressing members of the city council, Meyer said: “I’d just like to give my support for John’s management plan and explain a little bit about the respect that I have for his management style in general.” 

Addressing Gerber, he said: “To your point, Jill, the way his management is going, from my perspective, John’s been a breath of fresh air in terms of providing direct and actionable information for me. When I call or text John with confidential updates that we’re working on, he responds immediately — I’m not talking like five minutes, I’m talking like now. When I need an answer for a personnel or budget issue, I get a response immediately, which, in turn, allows me to do my job.”

Offering an example of his working relationship with Weidl, and citing demographic changes within the community as among challenges facing the police department, Meyer said: “The first day I met John, I explained to him how this has impacted us with the communication challenges, cultural differences, lack of trust in government, non-familial living situations.”

Meyer said Weidl was “engaged,” describing him as a manager who “showed up to dig into this complicated issue,”  adding that Weidl asked him to complete a Request for Quote (RFQ) for an immigration attorney to help create a bilingual immigration guide.

“So that stretched my comfort level with something I had no experience doing; it made me grow,” Meyer said.

He added: “Ultimately, I’m not always going to like the answers that I get from John, but (I) understand that (it’s) not always about getting what you want. At the end of the day, I’ve got a ton of respect for his approach to the job, and I think the city is better off with him here.” 

Freeman cited the history and the referendum which led to the formation and funding of the city’s fire department.

“I just wanted to echo what Chief Meyer had to say in regards to working with the city manager,” Freeman said.

Citing a desire to create perspective, he told council members that in 2014 or 2015, the city had a fire department and rescue squad which was housed in the same place, but, he said, it did not “operate in unison.”

In 2016, he said, Whitewater Fire Department, Inc., was formed as a stand-alone department which contracted with the city and the towns in the surrounding area for both fire and EMS services.

“Fast forward to late 2021, the department was faced with increased calls for service,” and, he said, a “decreased number of paid-on-call members answering those calls. It was difficult to maintain the level of service needed to accommodate the needs of the community.”

Freeman noted that the difficulties faced by the Whitewater department were also faced by departments nationwide. 

Freeman credited Clapper with recognizing a need to address the fire and EMS challenges, and initiating the merger between Whitewater Fire Department, Inc., and the city, creating the in-house department today operating as Whitewater Fire and EMS.

The in-house department was created on July 31, 2022, Freeman said.

“Knowing that future staffing was needed to properly run a municipal department, the former city manager decided to go to referendum. The success of the referendum on Nov. 8, 2022, was due to our current city manager, with the assistance from the fire department command staff and former council president,” Freeman said, adding: “I can’t tell you how many open forums, pancake breakfasts, city markets, town board meetings and other events we attended as a group to make the referendum successful. Because of the dedication set forth by the current city manager, following the passing of the referendum that was approved by 65%, the $1.1 million staffing plan was implemented.”

Due to the success of the referendum and the subsequent staffing plan, Freeman said, turnout, transit and response times have all improved. 

Said Freeman: “Prior to this year, over 40% of the EMS responses took longer than five minutes to turnout, meaning when the dispatcher hit the tones alerting members of someone’s need for assistance, it was more than five minutes before an ambulance even left the station to answer about half of our calls. Placed on top of that, transit times and travel to the call for service could regularly be over 10 minutes before help arrived to an emergency. March of ’23 saw our first full month of time-stamping of both fire and EMS. Despite the fact that not all of the budgeted positions had been hired at that time, our turnout times were drastically reduced. The month of March displayed turnout times of two minutes and 12 seconds on average for the first assigned apparatus and crew to start responding to an emergency … Fast forward to the current date. The month of August this year, turnout times are down to a minute and four seconds on average, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Furthermore, our 90th percentile time is two minutes and 50 seconds. Ninety percent of the time, our first arriving apparatus assigned crews are en route to your emergency in under two minutes and 50 seconds. Be it an EMS call or fire-related call for service, the staffing plan expedited the response from start to finish. Again, looking at the city of Whitewater, the analysis for August … revealed an average travel time of three minutes, 13 seconds to all calls in the city limits of Whitewater.”

Response times are four minutes and 37 seconds on average, Freeman said.

To date, he said, the department had responded to 1,332 calls for service. He identified 79% of those calls as EMS- and motor vehicle collision-related, and 22% as fire-related.

“I can’t make these statistics up; these are real data, real accomplishments achieved by our staff. These accomplishments wouldn’t be possible without proper funding, proper equipment and the leadership throughout our entire organization. The system is working, we just need time to perfect it; I appreciate all of your support,” Freeman said. 

Addressing the council, Anderberg described herself as a “new employee” of only four months.

“My journey here marks a stark departure from a previous experience in another municipality where the highest official’s demeanor was far from what we expect in public service. In that environment, accusing, yelling, and public spectacles were at an alarming high and very common. It was a very toxic situation and unhealthy work environment,” she said.

She added that in the time that she has been employed in Whitewater, the city has undergone, by her assessment a “remarkable transformation.

“Our dedicated staff are receiving training and support like never before. We’re embracing new technologies that promise to propel our city into a brighter future. Departments that once were plagued by ineffective leadership have been experiencing a complete turnaround in just the four months I’ve been here.”

Anderberg said her department was undergoing a modernization, during which staff members were uploading all of the city’s forms to its website, giving residents online access. Additionally, she said, a new agenda management system was synchronizing agendas “across our committees and common council.”

Citing personal growth, she said, she has been “allowed to do training,” and her department has become effective at enforcing ordinances and revising those that required it for the “betterment of the community.”

“Today, I am proud to say that we are following a new management plan, one that serves as guidance for the success of our staff and prosperity of the entire city. We are on a journey — city staff and our capable city manager — to steer Whitewater in a direction that would seem inconceivable just a short time ago,” Anderberg said. 

At the podium, Miller said that she has been working with the city’s CDA (Community Development Authority) since 2018, when she began administrative duties in a part-time capacity.

At the time, she said, “I was not new to economic development; I worked as a legal assistant for 22 years for attorney Mitch Simon, who served as legal counsel for the CDA.”

At city hall, she continued, “I have experienced several changes in leadership over the five years I’ve been here, having reported to two CDA directors, who were both here for a short time. During the many months without a CDA director, I reported to city manager Cameron Clapper. If I had to characterize those first five years on the whole, I would say, for me, they were without definitive direction and lacked effective leadership.”

After Clapper left to pursue another job, she said, she reported to an interim CDA director and then Weidl, first in his interim capacity and then as city manager.

Of Weidl, she said, “It was like someone finally started the engine and stepped on the gas. In my experience, John brings an energy to the city hall that spills over to everyone in the building. He set a high standard, and expects us all to be making the best use of our workday. He is direct, but respectful, sets goals and objectives, and has created an environment where I personally feel safe to spread my wings and accept new challenges.”

Miller said that under Weidl’s management, she finds she has the necessary tools to perform her work, and, she said, she is afforded opportunities to learn and grow.

“I’m proud to say that I am now a full-time employee and continue to enjoy my work. I can speak first hand about economic development opportunities that have taken root and are growing under his (Weidl’s) leadership. I’ve been a part of many developer meetings where I have witnessed the depth of John’s knowledge and his ability to negotiate in the best interests of Whitewater. I recently participated in a meeting with a local landowner that many years ago had an unpleasant experience with the city, which caused hard feelings. In my opinion, John’s respectful interaction with that gentleman facilitated a very positive meeting and helped move the project forward to the next step,” Miller said.

City staff across all departments are working with multiple developers interested in building single family homes in Whitewater, she said, adding: “and we all know how important that is to the survival of our community as a place to work and call home. I respectfully ask the members of the common council to recognize the value of John’s leadership and experience, and show city staff that you support his very sincere efforts to make Whitewater a better place to work.”

Sara Marquardt said she was in agreement with Miller’s assessment of the city manager. 

“So I will not reiterate her feelings, but I do want to ask of this council, when we are discussing goals, when we are discussing the issues that are affecting us — no, it has not always been easy — but in order to move this city forward, we need to be free to concentrate on its objectives, cheer the positives, and stop the behaviors that continue to impede our progress.”

Recent council discussions regarding the city manager 

In recent meetings, several items have been placed on council agendas relating to the job description and work performance of the city manager, including an Aug. 15 meeting request from Stone to have placed on the agenda a discussion about the possibility of hiring an attorney to represent the council on matters related to employees it directly oversees.

The motion, which was presented by Stone and supported during council discussion by Allen, sought council approval to hire an attorney to represent the council. It failed by a vote of 4-2, with council members Stone and Jill Gerber voting in favor of the measure. Councilman Lukas Schreiber was not in attendance.

Prior to the vote, several council members questioned a need for an attorney to serve the council in the aforementioned role.

During the meeting, Sara Marquardt noted that the city has on retainer two legal firms, including those of Harrison, Williams and McDonell, LLP, which provides services to the city through its lead attorney Jonathan McDonell, and von Briesen and Roper S.C., which has served the city as “special legal counsel on matters the city attorney does not wish to address.” Within a memo, Sara Marquardt listed contract negotiations and complex labor-related issues as among those that would likely be handled by the second firm’s lead attorney Kyle Gulya.

Discussion ended with a rollcall vote. An explanation for the need for such an attorney as advanced by Allen and Stone was not offered.

During the Aug. 15 meeting, Councilwoman Brienne Brown asked: “Why would we need an attorney in the first place?”

She continued: “There is no reason why we need an attorney. Why would we want to retain one? And nobody so far has explained to me why we would want one. And that concerns me. If it’s not coming up why we would want one, then that means there have been conversations happening that should have been happening in a transparent and open way.” 

Responding to Brown, Stone said: “Well this is an agenda item that I requested.” 

Brown responded, saying: “I know, but I don’t understand why. It has not been explained why we need this. This is an expense and there has been nothing explained to me as to why we would come up with this kind of an expense.”

An earlier story about the discussion to hire an attorney to represent the council on city manager-related personnel matters, is here: https://whitewaterwise.com/council-votes-against-hiring-an-attorney-to-advise-on-city-manager-related-personnel-matters/.

During the council’s most recent meeting, held Tuesday, an agenda item, described as “retaining an outside law firm to advise the common council on employee discipline and termination matters,” as requested by Allen, has been placed under of heading of “future agenda items,” and is slated for discussion during the next council meeting, which will be held Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Some background

Discussions revolving around evaluating the city manager began last month, when, during a meeting held Aug. 1, an item regarding the city manager evaluation policy was placed on the agenda, which, in a memo to council from Sara Marquardt, was described as an inquiry into the frequency with which the position of city manager is reviewed.

During the Aug. 1 meeting, Sara Marquardt said she was submitting for approval a draft proposal of an updated city manager evaluation policy in response to a meeting held in June, during which members of the council had offered “feedback and suggestions.”

She said the draft presented on Aug. 1 was meant to incorporate those concepts.

Sara Marquardt said council members had not indicated to her in June that they wanted to establish goals for this year.

Brown said some goals for a city manager were established through the city’s strategic plan.

Sara Marquardt asked council members if they were interested in setting a goal meeting in August.

Also during the Aug. 1 meeting, Allen, reading from a clause within his meeting packet, said that the policy could be changed at any time by the council and “compliance with this policy by the common council is optional.” 

Allen further noted that his intention with regard to the city manager’s evaluation was to do more than “just set goals.”

McDonell advised Allen that he was moving into a discussion that was outside of the discussion parameters stated on the meeting’s agenda.

Said McDonell during the Aug. 1 meeting: “I think we are getting a little outside of the scope of what we should be discussing here. This is supposed to be regarding the city manager annual review evaluation policy; I think we are getting a little bit too much into where our current city manager is and how this affects that person.”

Allen, citing meetings held in past years, said that he believed it appropriate to hold a closed session meeting regarding the city manager’s evaluation without the city manager being present.

Responding to Allen, Weidl said that he would have no objection if the council wanted to exclude him from an initial discussion, but, he said, “what I probably would have some umbrage with is the council meeting with no other staff to help guide them through that process.”

Allen said his proposal would be for the council to move into a closed session with the city attorney in the room. Council members could then “go over last year’s goals, make new goals, and then, the next meeting, bring the city manager in to inform him of our findings.” 

Additionally, he said: “what I want to do is, Jonathan (McDonell), you can help me here, go into closed session at our next meeting to do an evaluation of the city manager, his past performance and set goals for next year, and at the future meeting, bring the city manager position in to go over that. However you want to word that to make it happen, let’s do it.” 

“That would be inconsistent with the existing policy that’s already on record,” Dawsey Smith said.

Allen said his motion was to amend the proposed policy developed by Sara Marquardt to allow council to move into a closed session to evaluate the performance of the city manager for the last year.

McDonell responded, saying: “No, that’s kind of beyond the scope of what we are trying to do here. That sounds more like a specific agenda item for the future to discuss the city manager’s performance in a closed session.” 

“Well, that’s what we need to get to,” Allen said. 

“Put it on the agenda for the future,” McDonell said. 

Council approved Sara Marquardt’s proposal with additional language to include a city attorney or human resources director in a city manager evaluation closed session meeting when the city manager is excluded from an initial closed session evaluation. The measure was approved by a vote of 5-1, with Allen casting the ‘no’ vote. Lukas Schreiber was not in attendance.

An earlier story about changes to the city manager’s evaluation process is here: https://whitewaterwise.com/council-approves-updated-city-manager-evaluation-policy-following-protracted-contentious-discussion/.

Additionally, during the Aug. 15 meeting, council members discussed an array of employee relations-related topics, including those regarding the city’s employee stay and exit interview processes, wages and benefits as they compared with inflationary adjustments and ranges used by other municipalities, goals and objectives for a city manager, and competency categories to be used during a city manager’s evaluation. 

An earlier story about the various topics, and a discussion revolving around each, is here: https://whitewaterwise.com/council-discusses-range-of-topics-concerning-employee-relations/.

City manager performance and evaluation topics by agenda

Following the Aug. 1 meeting, topics associated with the city manager’s job performance and evaluation process continued during subsequent meetings held: Aug. 15., Sept. 5, and Sept. 19.

August 1

Discussion and possible action regarding city manager evaluation policy was placed on the agenda and discussed. 

According to a memo from Sara Marquardt, the item was a response to suggestions made by council members during a meeting held June 20. Within the June 20 meeting packet, a “Council Agenda Item” fact sheet, dated Dec. 17, 2019, was included. The sheet outlined an evaluation process used to evaluate former city manager Cameron Clapper.

Within the informational sheet, staff recommended that the council approve a similar annual review process, proposing the following changes: a more consistent timeline, with the evaluation occurring near the end of each calendar year. In years past, the sheet noted, “while the evaluation process occurs annually, the timing has varied from year to year. The policy proposed for consideration would ‘automate’ the evaluation process, ensuring the timing of the evaluation is consistent annually.” According to the meeting minutes posted by the city on its website, no action was taken regarding the staff’s recommendation.

August 15 

Topics related to the city manager placed on the Aug. 15 meeting included: discussion of the current exit interview process, including adjustments or improvements made recently, which Sara Marquardt stated in a memo, was requested by Hicks; discussion and possible action regarding a comparison study of salary, wages and benefits for the city of Whitewater versus comparable cities, which Sara Marquardt stated in a memo, was requested by Hicks; discussion of the current goals, objectives and management plan for the city manager, which Sara Marquardt stated in a memo was requested by Hicks; discussion of competencies categories for city manager evaluation, which, as noted in a memo from Sara Marquardt, was requested by Gerber, and discussion to hire a temporary, hourly assistant to the city manager, which the agenda stated, “is on the open agenda.” Additionally, the agenda noted an item which had been initially included as part of a closed session meeting, described as “discussion on attorney to represent common council on personnel matters.” The item, as stated on the agenda, was subsequently moved to the open-meeting agenda, and was described as “discussion and possible action regarding retaining an attorney to represent common council on personnel matters.” In a memo from Sara Marquardt, she noted that the item was requested by Stone.

September 5

Topics related to the city manager placed on the Sept. 5 agenda included: “Discussion and possible action regarding city manager’s management plan, placed by Hicks and the city manager, and “Discussion and possible action requiring hiring a temporary, hourly assistant to the city manager, placed by Allen.

September 19

Topics related to the city manager placed on the Sept. 19 agenda included: “Discussion and possible action regarding city manager budget goals, placed by Gerber and the city manager.

Also placed on the agenda under a heading of “future agenda items” is  “retaining an outside law firm to advise the common council on employee discipline and termination matters.” The item was placed by Allen and is slated for discussion during the council’s next meeting, which will be held Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Additionally, future items announced on the Sept. 19 agenda include: “first line surveys for staff to complete on management,” and “feedback survey for city manager to distribute when you attend or present at meetings,” both placed by Gerber. A reoccurring item, placed by Allen, is described as “hiring a temporary, hourly assistant to the city manager.”