Cape Coral City Council members slipped on their administrative hats Wednesday to discuss their annual evaluations of city staffers who report to the elected board.
Those staffers included City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn and City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner, who are contract employees, as well as City Auditor Andrea R. Russell and personnel who work in the city council offices.
The evaluations took place at a special meeting held in council’s conference room instead of Council Chambers “because the evaluation is treated more like a working session than a regular legislative meeting,” according to the city’s Communications Office.
Ummm, OK, but aren’t council workshops, like the one that preceded Wednesday’s special meeting, “working sessions?”
And are not city employees — particularly the city manager and city attorney who are front-and-center participants at every council meeting — directly accountable to “the people,” the top tier of the city of Cape Coral’s own organizational chart?
A couple of things.
Yes, the special meeting shuffled out of chambers and into the conference room was open to the public.
That’s state statute, not a city choice.
What was a city choice — specifically a choice of our elected officials — was to hold the meeting in a room where it could not be broadcast on CapeTV, was not live-streamed and, except for an audio recording available only via a public records request, is not readily available to those who may not have been able to attend the evaluation session.
The decision — a long-standing and often criticized one — befuddles us.
How can an elected board that hears at citizen’s input almost weekly that 1) it doesn’t listen to residents and 2) that it collectively eschews transparency — particularly about spending — be so consciously transparent-avoidant knowing the end result of Wednesday’s special meeting likely would be controversial raises for two of the most highly paid individuals on the city’s payroll?
Messrs. Ilczyszyn and Boksner each received good reviews for their job performance over the last year and received base salary increases for their efforts.
Mr. Ilczyszyn, who received an overall council rating of 3.9 out of 5 on a scale of 1-5, was awarded a one-time payment of $11,380.88 — the equivalent to a 3.25% increase — in lieu of a raise at his request.
His annual base salary was $336,984.65 with a total compensation of $350,180.80. He had received a 7.25% bump last year.
Mr. Boksner’s overall evaluation from city council was 3.8 out of 5.
His compensation going into Wednesday’s special meeting was $320,609.69. Council approved a 3.25% increase, or $10,783.79, which will come in the form of deferred compensation. The increase is retroactive to the first full pay period after Aug. 13.
We’ll not debate council’s evaluation findings, the salaries, or the increases here.
We will say they are some pretty big numbers, though, and the taxpaying public had the right to see how the sausage was made.
The special meeting should have been held in council chambers.
It should have been televised.
And it should have become part of the city’s videos that are accessible online.
Keeping such meetings - and all those like them — in the public view is among the matters the post-election “new council” should address.
Breeze editorial