Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
CORBETT: EO originally requested his evaluation in Feb. 2015
Continued from 1A
expectations.” The rest of the council’s
responses either elicited an “exceeds
expectations” rating (26 percent) or “needs
improvement” (8 percent).
The council generally gave good marks
to Corbett for his ability to relect Pendle-
ton’s “core values,” which include respect,
integrity and industriousness.
“One thing that stands out to me is that
Robb displays respect to everyone that he
meets,” one councilor wrote, giving Corbett
an “exceeds expectations” score. “I have
never heard anything negative about his
demeanor or attitude when someone is
working with or talking to him. He always
tries to provide everyone with an opportu-
nity to share their own thoughts.”
The 2016 council lauded Corbett for his
economic development skills, with every
council member agreeing that he either met
or exceeded expectations.
One councilor cited the city’s work
in continuing to support the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems Range, facili-
tating industrial expansion and upgrading
the downtown area’s designation with the
Oregon Main Street program.
“This is an area I think Robb has done an
outstanding job,” another councilor wrote.
“With his continued support of (economic
development director) Steve Chrisman and
business interests ... he has done an excel-
lent job.”
Not every comment was effusive.
Councilor Neil Brown both praised and
chided Corbett for being “a nice guy” in
2015.
“I think Robb’s biggest problem is he is
a nice guy,” Brown wrote. “No one wants
him to change that, but things like rehiring
our city planner (aren’t good management
choices). Finance department needs (to be)
addressed. Public works need to be directed,
we do not seem to have the same agenda. A
monthly report is a must! We can’t help if
we are not aware.”
Rehiring former city planner Evan
MacKenzie after he briely took a job in
Ketchum, Idaho, was a frequent point of
criticism from Brown and other councilors
in 2015.
MacKenzie left the city permanently
earlier this year, and a councilor in the 2016
evaluation wrote it was a move in the right
direction, along with the hires of Fire Chief
Mike Ciraulo, Pendleton Development
Commission associate director Charles
Denight and accounting supervisor Brian
Harrington.
But a different councilor still had reser-
vations.
“I do think Robb allows staff to dictate
workload to him rather than the other way
around,” the councilor wrote. “I honestly do
not know if Robb attempts to standardize
procedures to improve eficiencies but this
would be a good idea.”
The same councilor who praised Corbett
for his recent hires also commented that
there were “leadership vacancies” in the
parks and recreation department and the
Pendleton Convention Center and the city
needed to take a more proactive approach
to street and park projects. Chrisman has
since been named director of the Pendleton
Convention Center.
It’s dificult to compare the 2015 and
2016 evaluations because the council used
a different format in the prior year, rating
Corbett on a scale of 1-4, with 1 considered
“unsatisfactory” and 4 being “excellent.”
Based on 38 criteria over nine categories,
Corbett averaged 2.5 points out of 4 in his
2015 evaluation.
In an interview, Corbett declined to
speak speciically about the councilors’
comments but did say that the council’s
frank assessments were important in inding
ways to improve his performance.
Brown said evaluating the city manager
is an important council responsibility
and has noticed “vast improvements” in
Corbett’s communication and managerial
skills.
Brown said it was “human instinct” to
say nice things about Corbett, but it was
imperative to provide him with constructive
criticism.
“He’s going to hear the bitter and the
sweet,” Brown said.
While Brown said the comment section
was the most important part of the evalu-
ation, one member of the council elected
to withhold their comments from the 2016
document.
Although he contributed ratings, Mayor
Phillip Houk said he met with Corbett
privately to discuss his job performance
instead of adding it the evaluation’s written
comments.
“In the past, there were things that were
put out of context,” he said about comments
that were previously made public.
Houk praised Corbett for his integ-
rity and said he would hire him again
if he could. Corbett, hired in 2011, has
previously served as the city manager for
Burns, Prineville and Sutherlin. He makes
$120,572 per year.
The East Oregonian originally requested
Corbett’s 2015 evaluation in February of
that year. When City Attorney Nancy Kerns
provided a copy in April 2015, she kept the
scores but redacted the comments, writing
in a letter that internal communications
between the council and the city manager
would have a “chilling effect” on “honest
assessment.”
Kerns made similar redactions when
the East Oregonian made a public records
request for Corbett’s 2016 evaluation,
prompting the EO to ile an appeal with
Primus to obtain the council’s comments.
“It is my belief that an evaluation can be
conducted in executive session, as provided
by statute. But without releasing the written
evaluation, the public does not have the
opportunity to know how the City Manager
is performing their function,” Primus wrote
in an Aug. 23 email explaining his decision.
“The concern about ‘free low of commu-
nication’ on councilors making statements
can be remedied by redacting which council
person made a particular statement.”
Kerns released the council’s 2016
comments Aug. 25, but said the unredacted
versions of the 2015 comments were sent
by mistake.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.
DATA: Voter info
separate from system
that records votes
Continued from 1A
Concerns have been raised in recent years
that such information could be accessed
through states’ centralized databases and used
for inancial or political gain.
There have also been worries that voter
registration databases could be altered —
artiicially inlated with “ghost” voters or that
actual voters could be deleted from the oficial
list.
But Atkins said that the risk to voters’
personal information being accessed surrepti-
tiously is low.
“...At this point we feel that we are pretty
secure,” Atkins said. She added that while her
agency took the threat of a breach of personal
information “very, very seriously,” voters
should not be concerned about the outcome of
elections based on possible threats to personal
information.
The database containing voter information
is separate from the system that records votes,
which in turn is not connected to the internet,
Atkins said.
Among other duties, the secretary of state’s
information technology employees monitor
who “pings” or tries to access information
maintained by the agency. IT employees also
monitor sudden changes in voter registration
records. Atkins said she did not “like to talk
about the speciics” of the security measures
the agency takes.
The Secretary of State’s Ofice also has a
security plan that it shares with the state’s chief
information oficer, Atkins said.
But state data has been breached in the past.
The Secretary of State Ofice’s business
registry and campaign inance databases
were breached in early 2014 and the Oregon
Employment Department was subject to a
similar breach later that year.
Atkins said that after the 2014 breach, there
was “some pretty good intelligence work by
our folks about what was needed to prevent
that from happening again.”
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