DELAWARE — There is now a clearer picture of how Delaware City Council viewed City Manager Paul Brake before voting not to renew his contract Aug. 31.
Delaware Source obtained evaluations of Brake completed by council members, city staff and community leaders. The documents reveal sharply different assessments of his performance over the past year.
Council members evaluated Brake in seven categories: community and public engagement; executive leadership and organizational management; City Council engagement; strategic planning; intergovernmental representation; council goals; and overall performance.
Mayor Carolyn Kay Riggle and council members Adam Haynes, Kevin Rider and Matt McClellan rated Brake’s overall performance as satisfactory. Vice Mayor Caitlin Frazier and council member Kyle Bogan said his performance needed improvement, while council member Linsey Griffith rated it unsatisfactory.
Those evaluations did not align completely with council’s eventual vote. Riggle and Rider voted to renew Brake’s contract Aug. 31, while the other five council members voted against renewal.
City staff evaluated Brake using largely the same categories, with staff engagement replacing City Council engagement and council goals omitted.
Overall, 47% of staff rated Brake’s performance as strong or outstanding, while 33% rated it satisfactory and 20% said it needed improvement.
Community leaders were asked to evaluate Brake based on his professional interactions, communication, responsiveness, collaboration and community engagement.
Evaluations were submitted by:
- Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) Executive Director William Murdock
- Strand Theatre Managing Director Tracey Peyton
- Boardman Arts Park Executive Director Roxanne Amidon
- Delaware County Rotary Club President Kirt Trimble
- United Way of Delaware County Director of Housing and Community Solutions Kelsey Fox
- Delaware County Historical Society President Karen Cowan
- Main Street Delaware Executive Director Courtney Hendershot
- Delaware County Foundation President Chris Baker
- Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce President Susie Bibler
Looking deeper at council’s evaluations
Council members’ evaluations of Brake varied across the seven categories.
Their assessments were largely positive when it came to Brake’s public-facing role, including his community engagement, professionalism, efforts to educate residents and representation of the city manager’s office.
But opinions began to diverge more noticeably when council members were asked to assess the following:
- Demonstrates a strong dedication to service to the Delaware community and its citizens. Makes an effort to understand issues, concerns and the values of the community.
- Engage community stakeholders to understand various viewpoints and communicating city opportunities, challenges decisions and outcomes.
Fifty-seven percent of council rated Brake’s performance below satisfactory in both of these categories.
“While he might attend [events], he usually makes an appearance and leaves,” council member Linsey Griffith wrote. “I have not seen him serve in any capacity other than required by his position.”
The same 57% of council members rated Brake below satisfactory on other questions, including those related to City Council engagement and intergovernmental representation.
“There has been multiple instances where I am learning about impactful news and information from social media, the news reports or other sources except the City Manager,” Vice Mayor Caitlin Frazier wrote.
“This indicates that either Paul has failed to develop the key community relationships needed to have a ‘seat at the table’ or Paul is aware of information and is failing to inform council in a timely manner. Either scenario is concerning.”
Griffith also shared how her communication with Brake had been poor this past year.
“There has been excessive dismissing of myself and other council members,” Griffith wrote. “There have been legally questionable answers given that have required follow-up with department leaders.
“My emails receive a response in seven days on average,” she said. “I am offered a city council review usually just three to five hours prior to a council meeting.”
Those questions represented only part of each category, and Brake received higher marks on several other prompts.
For example, council member Kevin Rider praised Brake in the executive leadership and organizational management section.
“He is excellent at working to resolve issues, and engaging staff where appropriate to investigate issues,” Rider wrote. “He has demonstrated the ability to respond to sudden issues and changes, and address unexpected concerns.”
Ultimately, 57% of council members rated Brake’s overall performance for the past year as satisfactory.
When asked to identify areas where Brake could improve, Rider compared him with former Delaware City Manager Tom Homan.
“This is such a hard question – Paul is NOT Tom. And this is something I have to constantly remind myself…Tom knew everyone and was at everything for 26 years as City Manager,” Rider wrote. (Emphasis appears in Rider’s original evaluation.)
“With Paul being new to the community and having his wife and forever home in another state, I don’t fault him for that. Just a question we should have addressed before hiring him.”
City staff’s evaluations show similar trends
Across all three community and public engagement questions, between 53% and 60% of city staff rated Brake’s performance as satisfactory.
Staff comments were submitted without attribution, so individual responses cannot be tied to specific employees.
“I have witnessed Paul making numerous efforts to engage with the Delaware community during my six months here,” one staff member wrote. “He knows the area well and has really established roots locally which is incredibly admirable given that his family is one state away.
“Even up to my first day of employment with the city, I was impressed by how communicative to the city’s needs and response efforts he was.”
However, staff’s responses in the executive leadership and organizational management section weren’t as cut-and-dry.
“Provides little to no input on various topics when requested,” a staff member wrote. “Response to critical issues are sometimes delayed due to an unwillingness to make a decision.”
However, another comment said they appreciate that Brake “allows directors to direct” and that they felt Brake appreciates directors’ expertise in their respective fields.
The following charts show how staff viewed Brake’s performance with staff engagement:
For strategic planning, from the staff’s view, Brake consistently performed at a satisfactory or strong level.
“He is proactive in reaching out to other agencies, keeps a close eye on regional issues that could impact Delaware and works collaboratively to move projects and initiatives forward in ways that benefit the community,” a staff comment said.
Despite that comment and the stronger ratings Brake received for strategic planning, staff assessments of his intergovernmental representation were more mixed, with a majority rating his performance satisfactory and the next-largest group rating it strong.
“Strengthening regional partnerships and collaboration could also be enhanced,” a staff member wrote.
“Possibly engage more frequently with neighboring jurisdictions, regional councils, and county leadership to align on shared challenges such as transportation, development, and public safety. This could be measured by more joint initiatives, shared resources, and improved coordination on regional priorities.”
Community leaders weigh in
The majority of the nine community leaders who offered comments on Brake’s past year were positive.
“I have appreciated my interactions with the City Manager. He is always pleasant, approachable, and professional,” Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce President Susie Bibler wrote.
“He has been supportive of Chamber events by attending a number of ribbon cuttings and is a regular participant in Rotary, which demonstrates a willingness to be present in the community.
“I believe there is an opportunity for the City Manager to take an even more active and visible leadership role within the broader business community,” she added.
MORPC’s William Murdock said Brake was emerging quickly as a leading city manager in central Ohio, and said Brake represents Delaware well.
“Now that he is familiar with the region and the city of Delaware’s role, I would suggest he consider stepping into regional leadership roles on committees or efforts — both to contribute professionally and to advance the city’s perspective and regional influence,” Murdock wrote.
Roxanne Amidon from Boardman Arts Park noted a land swap deal Brake had a hand in.
“Paul has been a good partner for the Arts Park, ensuring the land swap with the [Delaware City] School District was completed with ongoing communication throughout,” Amidon wrote. “Paul is friendly and accessible when I need information. He is quick to respond when we need information or documents executed.”
The most in-depth evaluation of Brake came from Main Street Delaware’s Courtney Hendershot.
She also highlighted Brake’s responsiveness, approachability and collaboration.
“One quality I particularly appreciate is that, even if he does not have an immediate answer, he is quick to acknowledge emails or phone calls and communicate that he is looking into the matter,” Hendershot wrote.
However, Hendershot also recommended that Brake be more visible in the community.
“I have heard from some business owners that they would enjoy seeing him attend more downtown events or spending additional time walking through the district and interacting with businesses,” she wrote.
“While I understand the demands on a City Manager’s schedule, those informal interactions can further strengthen relationships and provide valuable opportunities to hear directly from the business community.
“Overall, my experience working with Paul has been overwhelmingly positive.”
