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Wednesday, January 25, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
TRAINING:
Councilors advised
on best practices
Continued from page 1
Prineville City Manager Steve
Forrester all concurred that it
is almost impossible to gov-
ern successfully without a sta-
ble mayor and council. They
also agreed that despite the
fact that everyone may have
different management styles,
the key point to remember is
that city council sets policy
and city staff implements the
policy. It doesn’t work, they
agreed, if the city manager is
setting policy or council gets
involved in implementation.
Councilors and staff had
ample opportunity to ask
questions and get good every-
day examples. They explored
the difference of a procedure
or action being legal and/
or best-practice. They also
received some very helpful
tools already being utilized
by other cities to assist in
goal-setting and the budget
process.
Forrester discussed the
difference between council
goals and staff goals.
“I like to keep the city
council at about 10,000 feet
when they are setting long-
term goals. Then the depart-
ment goals include the specif-
ics necessary to meet those
long-term goals,” Forrester
said.
He believes that goals
should be reviewed quarterly
with the financial report. That
way, the goals and the budget
are aligned. If adjustments
need to be made, it can hap-
pen in a much more timely
fashion than only revisiting
the goals once a year.
“The budget is a living
document,” Forrester shared.
“The staff and department
head goals are the foundation
of the budget each year.”
Council goals are stra-
tegic; department goals are
operational, according to
Forrester. He also warned
against complacency. Even if
everything is going well, he
encouraged the council and
staff to continue to challenge
themselves so they are always
working toward continuous
improvement.
Redmond’s Witcosky
suggested that every action
taken by council should be
based on an established goal.
Every staff report should say
what goal is being addressed.
If a goal doesn’t underlie
the action, then either the
goals are lacking and need
to be reviewed, or the action
shouldn’t be taken.
Endicott emphasized the
importance of fostering a
respectful atmosphere.
“We maintain respect
always. We can disagree
without being disagreeable,”
he said.
The recommendation for
Sisters by the panelists, given
a new council and a soon-to-
be-hired new city manager,
is to set just a few high-level
foundational goals this year.
Sisters is in a rebuilding
stance, and Endicott sug-
gested to council their goals
should go “an inch wide and
a mile deep.”
The council was encour-
aged to determine the fun-
damentals through extensive
outreach to the community.
Ask the citizens what THEY
want Sisters to be and do. Do
they want a push for strong
economic growth? Should
we focus on maintenance of
what we have or go after new
construction? Do the citizens
want high- or low-density
housing? Are they interested
in seeing Sisters grow or do
they want to sustain the small-
village feeling that attracted
them in the first place?
The visitors had a number
of suggestions for increas-
ing public outreach, from a
City Academy where citizens
learn how the City works, to
“What’s Brewing” events
to share information and get
feedback.
Witcosky stressed the
importance of a solid rela-
tionship built on mutual trust
between the city manager and
the mayor. All employees are
the city manager’s employ-
ees and he is responsible for
their actions and their man-
agement. The city manager is
paid to have his/her political
antennae up regarding every-
thing that is occurring in the
city. It is the manager’s duty
to keep the mayor informed.
Forrester believes it is the
city manager’s job to keep
the council informed. White
papers are prepared for the
council containing infor-
mation they need to stay
informed and educated on
issues.
“It’s the city manager’s
job to keep the employees
in line. And it’s the mayor’s
job to keep the city council in
line,” said Forrester.
When the subject of city
manager evaluations came
up, Forrester said he thinks
there should be two evalua-
tions a year so that any nec-
essary mid-course corrections
can be made, rather then hav-
ing a year elapse. Two evalu-
ations a year help keep every-
one focused on their tasks and
responsibilities.
The overall consensus
of the Council was that the
two afternoons of training
and discussion were time
well spent. Nothing like this
had ever been done before
in Sisters. New councilors
were generally just tossed
into the fray and they had to
learn, or not, on the job while
being asked to make impor-
tant decisions that had great
impact on the City and the
citizens.
Stocking stuffer hits the jackpot
On a whim, a Salem
couple used their winnings
from Scratch-it tickets they
received for Christmas to
buy a Megabucks ticket.
Thanks to that spur-of-
the-moment purchase,
Susan Gasperini and Chris
Erion won the $4.2 million
Oregon’s Game Megabucks
jackpot.
Gasperini and Erion usu-
ally only buy Oregon Lottery
tickets for birthdays and
holidays, and almost always
Scratch-its. So after getting
Scratch-its for Christmas,
Gasperini took the win-
nings from those Scratch-Its
and broke with their nor-
mal tradition; he bought an
Oregon’s Game Megabucks
ticket for three drawings
instead.
By winning the $4.2
million jackpot, Gasperini
became Oregon’s 258th
Megabucks millionaire. The
couple split the prize.
The winning numbers
were 4-31-40-41-45-48 for
the Wednesday, January 4
drawing. Gasperini matched
all six numbers with her
quick-pick ticket.
Oregon’s
Game
Megabucks numbers are
drawn every Monday,
Wednesday and Saturday.
The couple purchased
the ticket at the Safeway on
South Commercial Street in
Salem. The store will now
receive a one-percent sales
bonus of $42,000 for selling
the winning ticket.
Lottery officials recom-
mend that you always sign
the back of your tickets with
each Oregon Lottery game
you play, to ensure you can
claim any prize you may win.
The Oregon Lottery reminds
players to always sign the
back of their Lottery tick-
ets, regardless of the game.
In the event of winning a
jackpot, they should consult
with a trusted financial plan-
ner or similar professional to
develop a plan for their win-
nings. Prize winners of more
than $50,000 should contact
the Lottery office to schedule
an appointment to claim their
prize.
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