Special evaluation meeting to be held for Santa Rosa manager and attorney

The Santa Rosa City Council is holding a special meeting Tuesday to evaluate the performance of the city manager and city attorney.

The 9 a.m. meeting is not open to the public, but if any action is taken the council will have to report it at the public council meeting later that day.

The meeting will be guided by a consultant, Napa psychologist Bill Mathis, who was hired by Mayor Scott Bartley in December to help the council conduct a broader review of the performance of City Manager Kathy Millison and City Attorney Caroline Fowler.

Mathis has completed his review and the council will go over his findings, Bartley said.

The "360 degree" evaluation is broader than performance reports in previous years because it has allowed Mathis to conduct confidential interviews with city staff and others about how the officials were carrying out their duties, Bartley said.

Typically, once such reviews are complete, the employee will return to the council with a work plan to address areas of improvement, if any, he said.

Millison, 62, became city manager in 2010 after a long career in Clovis.

Fowler, 55, has worked for the city since 2001 and been city attorney since 2008.