- November 15, 2024
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Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon hasn't had a raise in seven years, and he requested one at a City Council workshop Tuesday, March 8.
"Obviously when the hard times and the recession happened, a lot of people weren't getting pay raises, and I couldn’t imagine employees not getting a pay raise, and I get a pay raise," Landon said. "But those days are behind us. Most people in the workforce are once again getting increases in pay. And so, this year, I'm asking that I be included in the pay raise."
Landon's base salary is $168,870, and his contract calls for the potential for a pay raise every year, subject to City Council approval.
Rather than asking for a percentage increase this year, Landon asked to receive the same dollar amount as the pay plan schedule increase that department heads get — in this case, about $1,535, Landon said, or about 1% of his salary.
Although they didn't reject the request outright, City Council members didn't agree to it at the workshop, either.
Councilman Jason DeLorenzo noted that pay raises aren't the only thing Landon hasn't been getting for years: He also hasn't been having formal annual performance evaluations.
Landon called the city's Annual Progress Report — which he'd presented to the council earlier in the March 8 — a form of evaluation. DeLorenzo didn't agree.
"I think we need something more formal," he said. DeLorenzo suggested taking a look at how other local governments evaluate their administrators, then having the city's human resources department prepare a performance evaluation form for Landon that City Council members could complete, submit back to HR, and then hold a discussion about.
"It would be a tool for us, because then if something was coming up regularly — and this isn't just for you, but for I guess whoever — if something was coming up regularly ... maybe then I could go look at those other evaluations and see if others are having a similar concern," DeLorenzo said.
Mayor Jon Netts said the Florida Inland Navigation District has a five-page evaluation form, and suggested he could get a copy of it.
Councilman Bill McGuire liked the idea of a formal evaluation, and didn't think the Annual Progress Report provided that.
"To me, an evaluation is based upon individual goals," he said. "If I gave you a list of goals and said, 'Here's what I want you to do in terms of performance for the next year,' then at the end of the year I can sit down with you and say, 'OK, here’s how you did for those goals, and if you meet those goals, here’s the max that you can expect to get, and if you don’t, you’ll get something less than that.'"
Netts suggested the city gather up several different evaluation forms — including the one from the Inland Navigation District, and an old one used for Landon's predecessor — and use them as a reference to come up with its own evaluation form that can be used for Landon.
McGuire said he thought the council should determine how much of a raise the city would be willing to give Landon if he's "done a magnificent job."
Netts suggested the amount should not be automatic each year.
"Absolutely," Landon replied. "It has to be something where you have that discretion every year."
For city employees, Landon said, the percentage is anywhere from 0% to 5%, with an average of 2% per department.
"I don't want anything more than other employees get," Landon said. "The worst thing that happens in my opinion ... is for me to get a higher pay raise than the rest of the employees." Landon suggested setting his potential raise at 1% to 3%.
"Let's look at the potential document first," Netts said. "That may give us a clue as to how we'll all proceed."
