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Date: 8/9/2023
MONSON — Town Administrator Jennifer Wolowicz received strong feedback in her most recent perfomance evaluation, which was revealed by the Select Board at its July 25 meeting.
The board had approved its policy and evaluation tool at its previous meeting on July 11 and since then the three board members had completed the evaluation tool and Chair Patricia Oney had compiled the results with the scoring and comments.
On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest, Wolowicz consistently received scores of 4 in 11 different evaluation criteria. A score of 4 was descibed as “highly effective, performance repeatedly exceeds job requirements.”
“I’m just pleased that we have a town administrator that is doing her job and doing a little more than she has to put into it — she’s definitely doing that — and she’s excelling at a lot of the skills she has,” said board member John Morrell. “I think I gave her more 5s than 4s.”
Member Peter Warren, who was elected to the board at the June 13 town election, told Wolowicz, “You work very hard and you made it very easy for me to kind of slide into this chair and I appreciate that very much.”
Regarding the standard relating to carrying out and completing duties with skill, proficiency and knowledge, the board indicated they were satisfied with her performance. Oney said Wolowicz was “very proficient with policy, finance and labor questions.” Additional comments noted she seeks input from department heads regarding areas of expertise.
“I have found when I asked her questions that she either knows the answer or is very diligent in obtaining one,” Oney said. “I think her education and her job history as an assistant town administrator before she came here speaks for itself.”
Wolowicz also scored high in the area of demonstrating skill at “prioritizing, organizing and planning workload,” To this Oney said,” Given the enormity of the work and constant demand on her time, we all felt she did a good job of prioritizing and organzing not just her work but in assisting and mentoring other individuals who work for the town,” pointing directly to collaboration with Fire, Cemetery and Parks and Recreation departments.
The Select Board also felt Wolowicz perfomed well in improving work procedures to increase efficiency, pointing to her work in developing priorities for departments with “multiple and frequent department head meetings.” Oney noted comments in the evaluation specifically lauded her work on the fire station building project and the assistance she provided Fire Chief Brian Harris. At the May 8 Town Meeting and June 21 town election, residents voted to approve a Proposition 2 1/2 Proposition 2 ½, debt exclusion for the cost of $6.6 million for the renovation project.
Board members were also satisfied with the manner in which Wolowicz communicates with the public, government officials and the media.
“I think we all know the background that she comes with and the fact that she knows a number fo government officials, seems to be able to contact a number of people and get responses quickly from our local legistlators,” Oney said.
She also noted tht Wolowicz had established the Community Conversations, a series of informal meetings to start conversations between residents, business owners, town officials and Select Board members to provide information and get feedback on matters that are important to the community. She was also responsible for updating the website and the board felt she also maintained good relatioships with local print and broadcast news outlets.
The Select Board also felt Wolowicz displayed the ability to work independently and exercise good judgment as well as her ability to work collaboratively, which Oney said she “demonstrates on a daily basis” through informal and formal meetings with department heads.
Wolowicz also displayed a strong ability and willingness to take on new responsibilities, the board found, “evidenced by taking on the Human Resource duties and continuing her efforts on longterm projects like Memorial Hall and open space planning.”
Oney noted that board members lauded Wolowicz’s reliability — “She puts in extra time and effort and always responds in a reasonable timeframe” — and analyzing facts and problem-solving.
Adding to the reliability point, Avery pointed to the period before Town Meeting when in order to meet deadlines, Wolowicz worked throughout the weekend.
Oney specifically spoke highly of Wolowicz’s leadership those subordinate to her and whose departments fall under the Select Board’s purview.
“My experience in working with Jennifer is that this is the one area she absolutely excels in. It has always been her priority to take care of the staff and to encourage them not only in their performance but in bettering themselves through education or any other means, and she offers a lot of guidance and demonstrates good mentoring skill,” Oney said.
The Select Board also noted her efforts to create a diverse workforce and promote an inclusive environment with Oney stating, “I think she’s made significant progress in the Human Resources Department and I feel that it is more efficient and more responsive to the different employees in town.”