By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
YACHATS – After 20 years on the job, the administrator of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District finally received her first “annual” performance evaluation.
Frankie Petrick, who serves as both the district’s paid administrator and its volunteer fire chief, chose to forgo holding the evaluation during an executive (closed) session and opted instead to have it during the fire board’s regular monthly meeting Monday.
Petrick’s salary as the district administrator is $105,710 a year. Her history with the department goes back to working with her volunteer firefighter father as a child. She was named volunteer chief in 2004 and district administrator in 2005.
Fire board member Ed Hallahan was absent but the remaining four evaluated Petrick’s performance in six scored categories before reaching an overall consensus of “exceeds expectations”, which was described on the evaluation form as “Performance goes beyond what is normally expected of the job.”
After some discussion around each category, board members scored Petrick on a scale from one-to-five with one being unacceptable and five outstanding. They then agreed upon an overall average score for each category.
Petrick received a four in the category of job knowledge and skills.
Board member Drew Tracy cited Petrick’s historical knowledge as an asset when looking toward the future and said it was her strongest category. Board members Doug Myers and Katherine Guenther dinged her slightly for occasionally turning to the former assistant administrator Shelby Knife for answers during board meetings.
Petrick said she and Knife worked through “time consuming technical reports for the board” together and that she had not thought it mattered who explained it during meetings. She acknowledged that Knife is more computer savvy.
Petrick received a three “meets expectations” in the category of quality of work.
None of the board members were aware of any quality of work issues. They did however note the job description for administrator says they will “take direction from the fire chief” and that the two job descriptions sometimes overlap and need to be revised.
Myers said there was not a lot by which to measure Petrick’s performance in the category, while Guenther touted Petrick’s “high quality” behind-the-scenes work, particularly with the budget “which is a huge undertaking.”
Petrick received a four in the category quantity/dependability/reliability of work.
“I’m not measuring quantity,” said board member Don Tucker, who resignation took effect Monday after five years on the board. “This isn’t a factory. I’m more interested in the terms dependability and reliability. And I find that the current district administrator is quite dependable.”
Guenther also praised Petrick, saying “I can’t think of a single instance where I have felt unable to depend on her performance or hesitated to rely on the outcome.”
Tracy said he felt Petrick has grown more receptive over time to accepting change, something he thought she was reluctant to do when he initially joined the board.
Petrick received a four in the category of cooperation – the ability and willingness to work with associates and subordinates toward common goals. But not before some confusion and unraveling by board members to discern the differences between Petrick’s role as administrator and chief.
Myers began by questioning her willingness to delegate before other board members said he was straying into her duties as chief.
“You know the interesting part is, this is a confusing set up the way they have a district administrator and a volunteer fire chief and it’s actually one and the same but we’re only supposed to rank it on the administrative skills versus operational skills,” Tracy said.
“But there’s a lot of difference in the job description,” Tucker said.
“I think most of the community doesn’t even realize that they’re two completely different roles …” Guenther said.
“She has strong thoughts and opinions of the direction YRFPD should go, so under willingness she could be more open to both sides …,” Tracy said. “She has a strong approach on certain things that I don’t think is beneficial. On others it is.”
Petrick also received a four rating for customer service, but she addressed the board before they gave their feedback.
“We have always tried to do the best for our district patrons as we possibly can,” she said. “And I think we have done that. Except maybe with the exception of the lady who didn’t like the light on our flagpole. We have a long list of folks who appreciate the attitude we’ve had over the years, and the helpfulness that we have offered.”
Guenther said it was the most difficult category for separating Petrick’s roles as administrator and chief.
“But I’ve been on board for a while now and I have never had anybody approach me and say they’ve had an unpleasant experience in any dealings with the district,” Guenther said.
Tracy called Petrick’s customer service skills “adequate” and in most cases good.
Myers said the image of the department, “which is mostly Frankie — is “outstanding.” But he did have a bone to pick about a particular instant when a Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy could not contact Petrick about a substation window broken by vandals because firefighters could not reach her.
“… It became apparent that the chief has a history of being unavailable on purpose at times,” Myers said. “Phone, radio, pager. They have trouble getting ahold of you occasionally. And when I brought this up to you, the bottom thing that you said, ‘Well they know where I live, they could drive up and get me in case they needed me.’…
“So I felt that brought discredit to the fire district …” Myers said. “But as far as the way she handled the customer service after that, she did excellent. She turned it into a learning experience for the rock throwers and for the family.”
If not for that one “hiccup” she did very well, he concluded.
In the last category, attendance and punctuality, Petrick received a five.
Also listed on the evaluation form was a section for goal accomplishment and achievements. But the board noted they had not set any goals for the administrator so will plan a goal-setting session in March.
“For a lot of time our goal was just to exist,” Petrick said. “A lot of time just trying to get through the year with the finances available.”
After the evaluation Petrick told the YachatsNews she thought it went “okay” considering she had never had a review. And that she looked forward to the goal setting in March and would “go forward with any recommendations that they want to bring forward.”
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com