City manager says he’s ‘energized’ following closed-door evaluation

Burbank City Manager Mark Scott said this week he felt “energized” after a closed-door evaluation with elected officials on Tuesday.

“I thought they were extraordinarily constructive in their comments to me,” Scott said by phone Thursday, though he declined to reveal specific concerns broached or comments made. “I felt very positive energy coming out of the meeting.”

After the discussion in closed session Tuesday, Burbank Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy announced the City Council’s full support for Burbank’s top executive.

“We had, I thought, a very frank discussion and a good give-and-take, and it was the conclusion of that meeting to give our unanimous support to the city manager,” Gabel-Luddy said.

Councilman Bob Frutos had made the request to discuss Scott’s performance a week earlier, though he declined to reveal why or comment further.

The request, however, came after weeks of resident criticism centered around mistakes made in the city’s public outreach efforts regarding the issue of group homes in residential neighborhoods.

Most recently, residents were angry that a community meeting on the group homes — for which the city had recruited land-use expert to address concerns — was not recorded for residents who couldn’t attend, especially because some residents were under the impression that it would be.
A barrage of complaints at one meeting prompted Scott to call Burbank “a very frustrating place to work.”

Scott, who has been Media City’s top executive for roughly eight months, was plucked from the city of Fresno, where he spent three years as city manager. Before that, he led the cities of Beverly Hills, Spartanburg, S.C., and Culver City.

Scott added Thursday that he supports periodic conversations on performance and objectives between the council and its employees.

When asked if he would make any changes as a result of the meeting, he said he plans to be very patient.

“I love neighborhood work, and that is my passion in local government. And sometimes you work hard and passion comes through in many ways,” he said. “I’m very happy to have a chance to work with people in our community, in our neighborhood. I want to make sure I represent a City Hall that’s open and receptive.”

-- Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Follow on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek

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