ESCANABA — Escanaba City Manager Patrick Jordan has been given a positive review by the city council, which also pointed out areas of his work that needed strengthening.

“We as a council, in the closed session (Thursday), we pointed out things he can work on to improve,” Mayor Marc Tall told the Daily Press.

While Tall said he thought Jordan was doing a very good job, that didn’t mean there weren’t areas for improvement.

“As I’ve told him, as a council person, I always want more information and that’s always something I’m going to ask for more of, and he understands that that is a common thing for council people to request, and he will continue to work on that,” said Tall.

The desire for more communication was a common — but not universal — thread among the council members. Multiple comments from council members, which were anonymized prior to being provided to the Daily Press, referenced a general lack of communication with council members, alleged Jordan was frequently “out of the office” when council members attempted to contact him, and that Jordan did not follow up on council members’ concerns when they heard things within the community that needed review.

“Several issues that have left mud on our faces were items I called Patrick about with information I heard within the community. They were either brushed off or I was told he would look into them, most were not,” wrote one council member.

Not all of the council felt communication or accessibility were a shortcomings for the city manager.

“Patrick is always available for conversation about any subject,” wrote another council member.

While the comment portion of the reviews and the closed-session discussion may provide the most direct feedback for Jordan, the majority of Jordan’s evaluation was completed on a rubric. For each category, the council members were asked to rank Jordan’s performance in a number of areas on a scale of one to five, with one being unsatisfactory and five being exceptional.

When aggregated, Jordan’s highest marks — all 4.0s, indicating the council felt his performance was “excellent” — were in his ability to take action without direction; evaluate situations logically and seek out new and better ways of accomplishing tasks; assume responsibility without being reminded; and seeking out new ways of performing his job functions that improve productivity, communications and resource management.

His lowest aggregate, a 3.2, was for representing the city interest at other levels of government.

Keeping the city council members well-informed on issues that should be addressed or monitored for possible action received a 3.4 from the council, tying for Jordan’s second-lowest score with his ability to “carry out the vision of the community by prioritizing and maintaining good working relationships with those involved.”

Council members were also asked to give Jordan a “summary overall assessment rating,” which was independent of the scores given elsewhere on the rubric. The council gave him a 3.8, falling on the high end of the “normal and expected” range.

“Actually it was a very good, strong evaluation,” said Tall of Jordan’s review.

No changes were made or suggested for Jordan’s benefits package or compensation. According to Tall, those issues will be addressed during the budget sessions for the next fiscal year.