On Monday, July 21, the Corvallis City Council voted to spend $10,382 towards an evaluation of City Manager Mark Shepard’s job performance. And there are some controversies about that, and even some question about what the City is really getting for its money.
First, the basics. The proposal was submitted by Council President Paul Shaffer and Vice-President Charlyn Ellis. Shaffer represents Ward 7, and Ellis Ward 5.
“In discussion following the 2023 and 2024 performance reviews of the Corvallis City Manager, councilors and the mayor encouraged updates to the performance review process for the City Manager. At the May 5, 2025 Council meeting, Councilor Ellis initiated discussion of potential changes to the review process, including a query whether to use an outside contractor to support the effort,” reads a memo from Shaffer to the Council.
What the Council approved: On Monday, the Council approved a consulting contract with the Local Government Personnel Services program of the Lane Council of Governments, or LCOG. The end goal is to evaluate City Manager Shepard’s job performance, and the Council is contracting for a consultation on how to do that.
LCOG made a bid to offer the services. In that bid, they said they will develop customized surveys and interview questions for Councilors, staff, and external reviewers, and support scheduling.
They also said they would be conducting confidential interviews with the City’s Councilors, department heads, and six to eight external peers or community partners. They will then do an analysis of those interviews and make findings and recommendations.
Here’s the controversies: Ellis, in her leadership position, has been instrumental in determining how Shepard’s job performance will be reviewed. But Shepard, along with Mayor Charles Maughan, is widely viewed as one of the driving forces behind an effort to oust Ellis from the Council back in 2023. Officials and long-term Council watchers worry that Ellis, now a year and half later, could be using this review process as payback toward Shepard.
The other Council leader driving the review process is Shaffer, who has been a staunch Ellis ally.
Some on the Council have expressed worry that LCOG will send a final draft report to Ellis and Shaffer and then integrate their input into the ultimate final product. There is also concern that the LCOG offers interviewees anonymity, even as some of those interviewees will be the City Councilors themselves. Given the Councilors rely on the voters to retain their positions, there is some argument that their comments should not be anonymized.
Finally, the Council has not formally considered any competing bids. Ward 8 Councilor Carolyn Mayers put a competing proposal into the last meeting’s agenda, but because it was scheduled by the Mayor for later in the meeting, during Councilor Reports, after the decision to go with LCOG was already made – her submission was rendered moot. That proposal was from Baker Tilly, a consulting firm that apparently does these evaluations more often than LCOG. Their bid would’ve been $12,000. There has been no accounting for why these two proposals couldn’t have been considered alongside one another.
Some of the Council also observed that LCOG isn’t really offering review services, but is in fact offering to consult with the City about building a process for Shepard’s review, and that conversely, the Baker Tilly bid would’ve been for performance review work.
So, does this all this mean the fix is in, or something nefarious like that. We’ll keep you posted.
LCOG says they’ll issue their final report by October 30. Five Councilor voted to approve the LCOG contract; Alison Bowden, Briae Lewis, Charlyn Lewis, Paul Shaffer, and Ava Olson.
Voting no were Councilors Jan Napack, Carolyn Mayers, Jim Moorefield, and Tony Cadena.
By Mike Suarez
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com