WALDPORT – City manager Dann Cutter received praise for doing a good job from the Waldport city council during his annual review last week, and a 5 percent pay raise with the caveat that it includes his annual cost-of-living adjustment.
Before being hired as city manager in March 2020, Cutter served on the planning commission from 2000-2006, on the council from 2007-2018, and as mayor from 2019-2020. He holds a degree in finance.
Cutter received a 5 percent raise last year that did not include the cost-of-living adjustment, which this year is set at 2.5 or 2.6 percent. The decrease, which is equivalent to 2.4 or 2.5 percent, was attributed to communication concerns, particularly with the recent handling of issues revolving around Waldport Beachcomber Days.
The popular community organization has been criticizing Cutter over the past several months for his handling of issues concerning the nonprofit.
“This has nothing to do with you,” said councilor and acting mayor Greg Dunn. “I guess it is kind of a slap in the face, (but) it’s what the community perceives. They think you’re doing this terrible job. We know you’re not. We want to show them ‘Hey, we’re working on communicating, we’re trying to rebuild the trust of our community.’ But at the same point we’re not about to not give you a raise because you definitely deserve it.”
Councilors also asked Cutter to use simpler-to-understand language when communicating with the council and community members.
“We definitely want you to work on that because that’s ultimately what we’ve been hearing from everybody is not really the job you’re doing, it’s the way you communicate,” Dunn said. “Because I think the job you’re doing is great. You’re doing things that we’re asking you to do. You’re protecting the city. I just think we can go about it an easier way.”
Cutter joked that he would “eschew obfuscation as best I can,” which drew laughs from councilors as well as promises to look up its meaning later. Cutter then added he would work to improve his communication for the benefit of the city.
The council is also going to add a six-month review, not associated with any pay increase and solicit evaluations from city employees prior to future annual reviews when pay raises are considered.
“I think it’s important,” Dunn said. “We see you and hear things that you’re doing, but we don’t hear what the city (employees) think of you.”
— Garret Jaros/YachatsNews
I worked in city government for 36 years and I have seen this happen time and time again. Dunn Cutter was humiliated by leaders of Beachcomber Days and called every foul name the speakers could think of, yet the others on council did not support him the way they should have. Now, he loses pay for his lack of communication skills, and he will be evaluated by his subordinates. Mr. Cutter is their boss, not their mother. Perhaps they should retrain him at a school that teaches obscurantism, post-factual politics, and herd behavior. No body likes a soldier after the war is over, but they cling to his pants legs during the battle.