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Manager's marks show satisfaction
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer PINELLAS PARK -- Jerry Mudd's bosses are generally pleased with the job he's doing as city manager. In the city manager's annual job review, two council members said Mudd is "outstanding," the highest ranking. One council member gave him an "exceeds expectations," or about a "B." A fourth council member graded him as a "C," or "meets expectations." The fifth member, Patricia Bailey-Snook, did not turn in an evaluation. Mudd's performance rebounded a bit from last year when his grades were equivalent to A's and C's. Two years ago, his report card had A's and B's. Sandra Bradbury, a council member since April, gave Mudd a "B." She said she was unable at this point to judge Mudd as an employee, but wrote her evaluation as "a citizen and friend." Mudd, she said, had maintained a professional attitude with her whether she dealt with him as a citizen, Chamber of Commerce member or candidate. She praised him for answering the questions he could and for promptly researching those for which he had no immediate response. Bradbury said she wanted Mudd to work with the county and state to pay for drainage repairs to Park Boulevard and 49th Street N. She also wants the city manager to "work in every opportunity available to resolve the annexation problems." "Jerry has started these tasks, so I would just like to see every stone turned over," she wrote. Bradbury's favorable ranking of Mudd may come as a surprise to some who alleged during the election campaign that she wanted to fire the city manager. Bradbury said Tuesday it doesn't matter what people think. "I have never had any ill feelings toward him at all. It's always been very amicable between us," shesaid. "Those were just rumors, campaign slander." Ed Taylor and Bill Mischler gave Mudd the highest grades. Taylor ranked Mudd as "outstanding" in all categories, as he has every year. "You are doing an outstanding job as this city's CEO," Taylor wrote. "I look forward to continuing our relationship in the coming years." Mayor Bill Mischler was not far behind, rating Mudd as "outstanding" overall, a repeat of last year's score. "Jerry has vastly improved in all areas," Mischler wrote. "His honesty and integrity continue to be his best traits. I am very pleased with his performance." Mischler noted that Mudd had "met or exceeded his goals." On Mudd's self-evaluation, he set out several goals: Improve city services. Slightly reduce the tax rate. Create a city business plan. Mischler had advice for the future: "Need to take a little stronger stand on controversial issues." Rick Butler gave Mudd the lowest scores of "meets expectations" in all categories. Butler did not explain his reasoning. "I don't like written evaluations," Butler said. That's partially "because of the St. Pete Times, that's why. Because realistically, every time we do an evaluation, it gets printed. When I have a problem, I just go tell them."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Letters |
