By Helen Hollyer

Both city councilors and heads of city departments rated city administrator Mark Shrives "satisfactory" to "very satisfactory," the highest rating, in all categories considered as part of Shrives' job performance evaluation for 2009.

During the Mar. 8 city council meeting, mayor Bob Hooker provided tabulated results for 13 categories of management responsibilities/skills and a like number of personal/interpersonal skills.

Shrives was evaluated in such management responsibilities/skills as communication with city council; planning, organizing and executing work; budget development and control; project accomplishment; communication with the public' community relationships and service; and delivery of city services.

Personal/interpersonal skills rated included leadership, integrity, imagination, cooperation, diplomacy, decisiveness, force, judgment, loyalty, coping with stress, adaptability, speaking ability; and writing ability.

Hooker also provided a synopsis of comments from the forms.

Among comments made by councilors, Shrives was said to have done an "Excellent job of managing large city projects." Another council member said, "Delivering city services within budget is commendable."

Other councilor comments included: "Mark has performed well in stressful environments," "Mark is a fine leader," "The city of Creswell is very lucky to have Mark as the administrator," and "Good city administrators are hard to come by."

Management staff members were equally complimentary, commenting: "Very approachable," "Good listener," "Great community leader," "Effective communication," and "A good job of utilizing his assets to the city's best interest."

Following the performance evaluation presentation, council members voted unanimously (councilor Jane Vincent was not present) to move Shrives from step five to step six on the pay scale. Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, Shrives' annual salary will increase from $74,259 to $76,858.