Manager ‘exceeds standards’
Haines Borough Manager David Sosa scored high on his one-year performance evaluation, with assembly members agreeing Sosa generally exceeded expectations in all aspects of his job.
The assembly released its summary evaluation Tuesday with averaged numeric scores from performance evaluations submitted by individual assembly members.
Assembly members ranked Sosa on a scale of 1 through 5, with respective numbers on the scale equivalent to “unsatisfactory,” “improvement needed,” “meets job standards,” “exceeds job standards” and “outstanding.”
Averaged, Sosa’s scores were: 4.1 on administrative relationships, 3.9 on personnel management and labor relations, 4 on fiscal management, 4.1 on public relations, 4.2 on quality/quantity of work, 4.3 on personal traits, 4.3 on communication and 3.9 on intergovernmental affairs.
The summary evaluation did not include comments from assembly members, but did include a list of “future goals and objectives.”
The assembly also determined Sosa’s scores made him eligible for and deserving of the 3.5 percent pay bump in his contract, but Sosa declined the $3,422 raise.
“In terms of the little things that I can do, I recognize that we’re having others do more with less; I don’t know why I should be exempt from that, so I would like to voluntarily forego the raise,” he said.
The raise would have increased Sosa’s salary from $98,000 to $101,422.
Sosa urged the assembly to make an amendment during the budget process to remove his raise from the budget and spend the money elsewhere.
In interviews following the release of the composite evaluation, assembly members shared what they thought Sosa most excelled at over the past year and areas where he could improve.
Assembly member Diana Lapham said she was impressed with Sosa’s loyalty to Haines and his interactions with the public. “He’s got a good rapport with the public. He makes himself available to the public, which is very important. I marked him quite high on that,” Lapham said.
Lapham said she’d like to see Sosa get outside of the office more. “He definitely needs to spend more time with his family and that will come. The first year has been a real learning curve,” she said.
Though Sosa scored a 3.9 overall in “personnel management and labor relations,” staff wasn’t consulted as part of the evaluation. Lapham said she thought she could adequately assess Sosa’s interactions with staff because she spends time in the office almost daily.
“Mr. Sosa is very loyal to his employees and they realize that, and I think that makes a huge difference in your working atmosphere,” Lapham said. “I believe these people really are on a team now. There’s a lot of team feeling there.”
Assembly member Ron Jackson said he’d like to see Sosa develop a public participation plan and a training program for board and committee members. He would also like to see Sosa use the media as a tool for disseminating information.
Assembly members receive weekly bulletins updating them on progress the borough is making on issues and projects, and the media should be included in those emails, he said.
Jackson said he largely skipped the scoring section for “personnel management and labor relations” because he doesn’t know enough about how Sosa works with other borough employees.
“I have not watched him interact with his employees and how he works with others,” Jackson said. “I haven’t had people come up to me and say, ‘He is good at this,’ or ‘He’s not good at this.’”
Assembly member George Campbell said he didn’t talk to borough staff members, either, and marked “no opportunity to observe” for many of the “personnel management and labor relations.”
“I think there are more ways than just asking subordinates’ opinions to evaluate performance, and I accepted the fact that I don’t have time to cover every facet of everything,” Campbell said.
“There is a certain point in which interviews with subordinates are counterproductive,” he added.
Campbell said he has been most impressed with Sosa’s ability to bring people with differing viewpoints together and help them find middle ground. He said he’d like to see Sosa use less military jargon and abbreviations in his communications.
Assembly member Dave Berry also said he’d like to see Sosa “loosen up” and shed some of his military habits. Sosa’s hard-working attitude was one of his strongest traits, Berry said.
Assembly member Mike Case said one of Sosa’s best attributes is his ability to address a large number of tasks quickly and effectively, though he’d like to see the manager explore more “outside-the-box” strategies to deal with the fiscal challenges facing the borough.
Assembly member Joanne Waterman did not return a call for comment.
Future goals and objectives outlined on the composite evaluation included: developing borough messages and themes, implementing a public participation plan, using Facebook and Twitter to provide effective messaging on borough activities and initiatives, developing an annual agenda that emphasizes strategic goals and establishing annual budget priorities.