Scoring sheets used in Killeen City Manager Kent Cagle’s evaluation provides insight into how highly council members view the top administrator’s performance over the last year.
“While a performance evaluation is meant to critique the city manager’s performance and what has been accomplished during a given period, it is also a communication tool and a learning process whereby the mayor and city council and the city manager can learn more about each other’s expectations and where strengths and weakness exist in the relationship,” according to the cover sheet of Cagle’s 2022 evaluation. “Annual evaluations should identify (any) major differences in direction, miscommunication or problems before they become critical to the operations of the city of Killeen.”
The Herald obtained the documents through a Texas Public Information Act request, including scoring sheets for each council member.
“This evaluation form consists of (several) categories totaling 25 questions related to the city manager’s performance. Each question should receive a numerical score from 1 to 5, with a 1 being ‘needs improvements,’ 3 being ‘average’ and a 5 being ‘exceeds expectation.’”
The categories are: Relationship with mayor and city council; relationship with employees; financial management; organization management program development and follow-through; and public and intergovernmental relations.
The combined scores from 20 and 25 are considered “exceeds expectations,” those from 19 to 14 are “average” and scores below 14 signify that the city manager’s job performance “needs improvement.”
Cagle did not score below 20 on any category.
Comment sections on each category allow council members to provide feedback on the city manager’s performance, and several of them did that, signing their names on the scoring sheets.
On the “public and intergovernmental relations” category, Councilwoman Nina Cobb gave Cagle a score of 25. Cobb called Cagle’s performance “effective” and that he’s “willing to listen” and “excellent at money management.”
Mayor Pro Tem Ken Wilkerson commented on each category, writing on “relationship with mayor and city council” that Cagle “may want to explore more aggressive communication efforts to inform citizens.”
“I know both you (and Janell Ford) have been working hard to get the word out about what we are doing, but KDH is a difficult barrier to overcome,” Wilkerson wrote. “Great job.”
Ford is the city’s executive director of communications.
Wilkerson also opined on the “relationship with employees” category that “I’ve never seen a person that has such respect and admiration among employees at this level. Never heard a negative word and I’ve asked.”
On the “relationship with employees” category, Wilkerson assigned a 25. On the “relationship with mayor and city council,” it was 24.
From Wilkerson, Cagle received a 25 on “financial management.”
“This is your strong suit in my opinion,” Wilkerson said.
On “organizational management program development and follow-through, Wilkerson gave Cagle a 25.
“Thank you for incorporating the item (agenda) tracker,” he wrote. “I believe the changes were able to make as to do the way we conduct business. I believe we are moving in the right direction.”
And on the final category, “public and intergovernmental relations,” Cagle received a 22 from Wilkerson.
“This is not all your fault,” he wrote. “We have some real ‘characters’ in neighboring communities. I appreciate you walking the thin line with some of these folks.”
Wilkerson is the only one of the seven council members — Michael Boyd, Jose Segarra, Jessica Gonzalez, Ramon Alvarez and Riakos Adams are the others — who commented on each category. He also recommended a 3.2% cost-of-living raise to increase Cagle’s salary from $223,650 to $231,034.87.
However, following the executive session on Dec. 13 in which council members evaluated Cagle, Mayor Debbie Nash-King told the Herald they will vote on a proposed $26,129 raise — a 12% increase — for Cagle in January.
“The city manager’s job performance exceeded expectations,” she said. “Council members were all in favor” of retaining Cagle.
Cagle’s salary is $223,650. Nash-King said council members will vote on his proposed raise — a 12% increase — in January. The increase, if approved, would bring Cagle’s annual salary to nearly $250,000.
According to the Texas City Management Association and govsalaries.com, Cagle’s current salary ranks well below that of city managers in cities comparable by population.
For example, in Temple (population 80,761), the city manager’s salary is $285,002. In Waco (139,594), it’s $272,108. In Round Rock (137,575), the city manager’s salary is $272,000. The city manager’s salary in Abilene (124,407) is $264,139; it’s $245,000 in Mesquite (144,788) and $90,236 in Pasadena (148,215).
The population in Killeen is about 153,991.
In Cagle’s performance evaluation last year, Cagle scored an “excellent” rating on half of the 10 criteria council members used in their review.
As city manager, Cagle controls the day-to-day operations of the municipal government. He was hired on Nov. 19, 2019, in a 6-0 vote when Segarra was mayor.
With 35 years of experience in government, Cagle has spent 21 of them in municipal management, including most recently in Leander. He was hired in Killeen at an annual salary of $210,000 and received a 3.5% cost-of-living adjustment in 2020-21 and a 3% COLA in 2019-20, bringing his current salary to $223,650.
Cagle’s 2021 performance was reviewed using “excellent,” “average” and “poor” ratings. He was rated “excellent” on individual characteristics; professional skills and status; citizen relations; staffing; and fiscal management. Cagle was rated “average” on relations with elected members of the governing body; policy execution; reporting; supervision; and community.
He did not receive any “poor” ratings on last year’s evaluation.
In Killeen, Cagle oversees about 1,300 employees and a $265 million budget. His contract allows him and the city to terminate the agreement mutually and in writing and for the city to unilaterally end his employment “with or without good cause.”
In that instance, an employment separation requested by the city must be done with a 30-day written notice, according to the contract, and entitles Cagle to a severance agreement that includes payment equal to his annual salary and accrued but unused vacation and sick and personal leave days.
