LOUISVILLE — Thwarted in her attempt to discuss the matter behind closed doors, City Councilwoman Ashley Stolzmann on Tuesday night publicly criticized City Manager Malcolm Fleming, saying he needs to improve on his communication, oversight and follow-through in operating the town.
Stolzmann, during the council member comment period of Tuesday’s meeting, said that while an executive session would have been preferable, she was comfortable bringing up her concerns on the public record.
“I believe there are three major areas that require improvement and they are communication, follow-through and oversight,” Stolzmann said. “I have specific examples — many — to accompany each category.”
She added: “I don’t feel comfortable at this point sharing the specific examples that I have for different areas because I feel that it provides undue embarrassment to different members of staff, so, in the future, if you’d like to discuss this with me, feel free.”
Fleming on Wednesday said he hopes to meet with Stolzmann soon to learn more about the issues she mentioned.
“I’m looking forward to sitting down with her and discussing those examples so I can better understand her expectations and what she thinks I might do to improve,” he said. “I am always open to discussions about concerns, and I appreciate when council members bring those to me directly, and that is what I am hoping to accomplish when we sit down and talk about things.”
Earlier in Tuesday night’s meeting, Stolzmann — who was elected to the council last fall — requested that the City Council convene an executive session to discuss the city manager’s performance. Mayor Bob Muckle joined Stolzmann in voting for the executive session, saying he did so as a courtesy to a fellow council member.
The other four members voted against the closed-door session, with Mayor Pro Tem Hank Dalton saying that he was “personally unaware of any performance issues of the city manager,” and that he was comfortable with the city’s practice of providing an annual performance review to Fleming in late July or early August.
‘Issues should be communicated directly’
Other members did not respond to Stolzmann’s remarks about Fleming during the council member comments portion of the meeting, but in discussing the request for an executive session, Councilman Jeff Lipton voiced concerns about holding a private meeting for issues brought forward by a single council member.
“I think that if we individually have issues with the performance of the city manager, those issues should be communicated directly to the city manager by the individual council member or through the mayor,” Lipton said. “I’m not aware, as one member of this body, that there have been any systemic issues or concerns expressed.”
When Stolzmann said she felt it was bad personnel policy to wait all year to provide feedback to employees directly under the authority of the City Council, Lipton replied that he felt it was bad policy to hold an executive session every time a new issue is raised.
‘Always opportunities for improvement’
When reached by phone today, Stolzmann again declined to get into specifics about her complaints about Fleming, but said the she has heard the concerns from various community members.
“Employee performance is somewhat sensitive, and I’m not out to embarrass anyone. I just think it’s important to provide the feedback,” she said. “I’ve heard concerns from boards and commissions and citizens and I’ve witnessed opportunities for us to do a better job.”
She said there are several scenarios she knows of involving Fleming that demonstrate a need for more transparency, more community involvement in determining outcomes, and ways outcomes could have been more positive for Louisville.
“There are always opportunities for improvement and he does a lot of things really well,” she said. “Having a transparent government that is efficient and represents the community, that is what we have to do, and you need to provide feedback to people to make that happen.”
Contact Camera Staff Writer Joe Rubino at 303-473-1328, rubinoj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/rubinojc.
