I hear the zoo elephants were written up for not being team players.

However, the monkeys got points for scratching their butts in public and talking endlessly without saying anything.

When I heard the news, I was overcome with emotion. First, I cried for a few minutes, then I laughed, and now I just feel proud – proud to be living in Dave Bragdon’s world. When I take my recycling and garbage can to the curb next week, I will bow my head and say a quiet prayer of thanks. Well done, senior managers! Well, done!

Jack, did your reader indicate why this wasn't leaked (while in powerpoint/draft form) a few weeks before completion?

Does senior mgmt include the auditor that works 20 hours a week while doing two other jobs? I am sure as Mr Bragdon looks out his window at the twin steeples of the empty convention center and thinking of his own physical shortcomings he realizes he really is a great guy after all.

Recipe to "Consistently exceeded performance expectations":

Metro (a planning agency)
giving Beaverton $2 million to help buy the Westgate Theater
to add it to "Round" development (Beaverton's SoWa)
while at the same time declaring there is no money for "Planning"
and advancing a new fee for planning.

It's easy to jump on this as something exclusive to the world of government, but this happens in nearly every office environment. Senior managers often get so paralyzed by the thought of confronting their peers... evaluations have to be performed by peers or superiors, and well, it's lonely at the top. They'd prefer to say 'everything's great' and retain the status quo.

Sure we'd prefer not to have that in our local government, but we have to realize it's the nature of office politics. Last time I checked, those folks are human too...

"It's easy to jump on this as something exclusive to the world of government"

I'm not sure about anyone else but I was questioning the performance standard.

Seems to me there isn't one and it's easy for them to say 'everything's great' with the 'status quo'.

WOW! I'm overwhelmed! We truly are lucky to have a government agency the likes of Metro!

Wonder how much time and money they spent to make us all feel lucky?

Aaah Metro... legends in their own minds.

Makes me misty and nostalgic for the good ol' days of CRAG.

Yes they are busy little beavers. I was in the offices some months back. The paper was stacked so high on some desk people could have hidden behind the piles. Maybe that was the intention.
It was a disgrace that an office area should be so cluttered. As well as a disgrace that management would allow such a clutter mess.
M.

I think it's pretty obvious that the performance expectations for managers are low. This means that they will automatically exceed "performance expectations". It's a self-fulfilling paradigm.

Across the agency:
3% need to improve, 85% are average, and 12 % are excellent

Sr mgmgt
8% need to improve, 54% are average, and 38 % are excellent

best department - Council staff
7% need to improve, 63% are average, and 30 % are excellent

worst department - Public affairs
20% need to improve, 60% are average, and 20 % are excellent

when Michael Jordan [coo @ metro] started selling this to metro employees it was for non-represented staff only.
when metro enters it's first contract negotiations since this process [with laborers 483] the first wage proposal from metro was based only on one's performance evaluation. No cost of living increase would be offered.
looks kind of like another bait and switch operation to me.
metro under david bragdon has become less than what it has been or more importantly what it could be.
what is said by the agencey is not the same as what it does.
if the neighborhood around the zoo took a good look at how the zoo has massaged the city permit process to build in the environmentally sensative cascade ravine area [new bear/cougar exhibits] they would see that the zoo can build on zoo property without permit problems.
If the neighbors wanted to cut trees and pour concrete in a watershed it's doubtful they could.