Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro received high marks from all seven city council members in evaluations of his professional performance in 2024.

Each council member was asked to evaluate Mauro, judging him on the following 10 categories: individual characteristics, professional skills and status, relations with elected members of the governing body, policy execution, reporting, resident relations, staffing, supervision, fiscal management and community. Each category contains five statements, with council members ranking Mauro on a scale from 1 to 5; their responses were compiled into an anonymous scoresheet. 

Mauro, who has worked for the city since 2019, received an average score of 4.7 out of 5 across all categories.

Two council members gave Mauro an overall score of 4.9. His lowest individual council member score was 4.4. 

Of the 50 statements, Mauro received 14 perfect scores, with council members seeing no room for improvement. The lowest average score in any category was for professional skills and status, at 4.46. Relations with members of the governing body — city council itself — came in at an average of 4.49

The highest average score that Mauro received was in the reporting and supervision categories. No average category or statement score was lower than a 4.

Unlike previous annual evaluations of the city manager, individual council member evaluations — scores and written responses — have now been deemed exempt from public records requests, wrote Public Works Director Steve King in an email. 

“This process was designed on purpose to encourage open and honest feedback from the council,” King wrote. “The individual forms and narratives are exempt from public records requests based on the objective of protecting the process which relies on anonymity and the ability to have unbiased discussion with the city manager. It would not be fair to the council members or the city manager and would have the potential to harm the process if individual comments were disclosed.”

The mayor and the director of people and performance, a job typically known elsewhere as director of human resources, will review the individual forms and provide a summary of themes for discussion at two executive sessions with the council before reviewing it with Mauro in April, King wrote.

Mauro’s perfect scores — where all council members ranked him at 5 — ranged from demonstrating a capacity for innovation and creativity and supporting the actions of the city to encouraging teamwork among city staff and sharing responsibility for addressing the issues facing the city. He scored perfectly on recruiting and retaining competent staff. 

Council members also scored Mauro perfectly on preparing a balanced budget. However, in the current budget cycle, the city is spending more than it takes in by $1.8 million, a deficit that resulted in the city drawing down reserves to fund the current $68 million budget, which was also approved by council.

Mauro has defended the strategy, saying the city adopted a balanced budget for 2025 and has been adhering to state statute and its own policies and has been holding general fund reserves in excess of the current policy limit.

Mauro received lower marks on his ability to respond well to requests, advice and constructive criticism from council, his responsiveness to requests from residents and reviewing ordinance and policy procedures periodically to suggest improvements to their effectiveness.

One city council member provided scores of 5 across the board with the exception of two statements, which were scored with 3s: responsive to requests from citizens and maintains a nonpartisan approach in dealing with the news media.

City council comments

David Faber, Port Townsend’s mayor and a vocal and public supporter of Mauro, described his interactions with the city manager as “quite positive” during his time as a council member. 

“John’s collaborative approach to his work has proven quite effective and successful,” he wrote in an email. Faber said while any evaluation process is somewhat limiting, the one being used by Port Townsend is similar to that of the International City/County Management Association, and “seems effective.”

Deputy Mayor Amy Howard did not provide comments directly related to Mauro, but did address the review process.

“Given that the City Council is a body of seven individuals, each with different working relationships and levels of interaction with the City Manager, forming a comprehensive and fair evaluation can be inherently challenging,” Howard wrote. “Some council members may work closely with the City Manager on specific projects, while others may have less direct interaction, leading to varying perspectives on performance. A well-structured review process helps ensure that feedback is balanced, specific, and focused on measurable outcomes rather than personal impressions.”

Council member Ben Thomas wrote, “At this point, I’m really focused on constructive feedback on things that he can actually adjust, rather than letting my feelings about how I see the role of the city manager affect the review… I hope he can recognize the support that is implicit in genuine, constructive feedback.”

After the April 7 executive session, when council members will review the evaluation with Mauro, a final report summarizing where he has excelled, goals for growth and development, and areas for improvement will be available to the public. 

The report will inform the council’s decision on whether to give Mauro — who makes $230,734 annually and received a $6,285 cost of living increase in December — a performance raise this year.