City manager gets glowing marks in first review

Home

Around Kissimmee

Other Sun Publications

FREE DELIVERY!
Get Free Delivery! Request your Osceola News Gazette Today.

Login Form

2013 Osceola Health

2013 Sexual Predator Sexual Offender List sexualpredatorcover13

Windows on the Classroom March 2013

School Calendar
2012-2013

View our other Special Sections

City manager gets glowing marks in first review

Around Osceola

Thursday, 29 September 2011 00:00

By Brian McBride
Assistant Editor
In his first year as Kissimmee city manager, Mike Steigerwald received glowing marks from city commissioners Sept. 13 during his performance review.
Steigerwald was lauded by commissioners for his management style, described as an administrator with a sense a humor, but serious to the bone when he has to be after taking the reins from former city manager Mark Durbin. Durbin, the longest tenured Kissimmee city manager in history, groomed Steigerwald to be the next city manager. Durbin retired in August 2010 after 23 years.
Commissioner Jerry Gemskie, who noted it was his ninth time grading a city manager, said he evaluates on a daily basis.
“I’m happy Mark did bring you on to fill in his shoes,” Gemskie told Steigerwald. “I have no complaints.”
Steigerwald mentioned some of the city’s accomplishments he oversaw in his first year, which included the completion of phase one of Lakefront Park, coming in $450,000 under budget.
The third phase of the Martin Luther King Boukevard, which will run from Thacker Avenue to Dyer Boulevard, is currently in design phase, with construction to start in January.
Construction is under way on the Hoagland Boulevard widening project, expanding the road from two to four lanes. And the city signed a contract in August with Redflex Traffic Systems for 10 red-light running cameras, which are set to be operational by Jan. 1.
“You have obviously made headway with everything we requested,” Commissioner Cheryl Grieb said.
In the past, the city manager review would dictate the amount of raise in pay the administrator would receive, but the city has since frozen salaries because of the weak economy. Steigerwald currently earns $129,958 annually.
“If I had the money to give you a pay increase I would do it,” Commissioner Art Otero said. “You earned it.”
Otero praised Steigerwald for executing city business with a less staff caused by the rocky economic times and for always having the information ready for Otero when he has a question.
“What you have done is superior,” he said. “You are on top of everything.”
The decision to higher Steigerwald for the job was an easy one, Mayor Jim Swan said. He specifically complimented the city manager for being an “extraordinary cheerleader” for city employees and giving them the respect they deserve.
“You have exceeded my expectations,” Swan said.
In fact, the only person to criticize Steigerwald was himself.
“I think I did an OK job, but I’m not satisfied,” he said.
Steigerwald said he regretted not being able to give employees raises and that he had to propose raising the millage rate to balance the 2011-12 fiscal year budget. The city later requested that the Kissimmee Utility Authority raise its its rate per kilowatt hour from 6.24 to 6.91 mills, which it agreed to do. It meant an extra .67 cents on an average KUA bill of 1,000 killowat hours for KUA customers.
But Swan placed no blame on him, saying that the city was wading through tough economic times and that the city manager was not “Superman.”
“Go ahead and bad mouth yourself, but don’t expect me to do it,” Swan said.
Steigerwald said he was gracious for the high marks, but wouldn’t rest on them.
“I’m never going to get complacent,” he said.