County manager critiqued; no raise or bonus

Douglas County Manager Dan Holler won't be bringing home a raise or a bonus for Christmas this year.

But he survived an effort by Commission Vice Chairman David Brady to have him fired.

Brady was Holler's most vocal critic at Thursday's commission meeting held in Stateline. But Brady found himself on his own when he sought a vote of no-confidence, which died for lack of a second.

Some of Brady's criticisms included the inability to delegate to his staff or encourage decision making, tardiness on reacting to the budget, and lacking moral leadership.

"Over the years you've taken a caretaker role rather than being proactive or progressive," Brady said.

The other commissioners agreed with Brady that Holler needs to delegate more.

However, Commissioner James Baushke said he thought Holler was a good leader.

"He¹s one of the premiere county managers in the country today," Baushke

said.

At the beginning of the evaluation, Holler ran through his list of accomplishments for the board. Commissioner Kelly Kite said he didn't agree with the entire list.

"Some of the accomplishments you counted I didn't count," Kite said. He didn¹t elaborate on those disagreements.

Commissioner Nancy McDermid said to help out the county manager, the board could come up with a list of goals for the year, so he knows what to focus on.

"It¹s hard to carry those out if no one knows what those are," McDermid said.

County commissioners and management have held two of three four-hour sessions to work out the county's "values, mission, vision, strategic objectives and action plans."

When reviewing Holler¹s qualifications for a raise or bonus, Kite said he had a hard time recommending him for one, due to the state of the budget.

Chairman Doug Johnson agreed to keep the salary where it was at.

Holler also recommended keeping the manager¹s salary steady so the county could save a potential $4,500.

The majority agreed to give Holler three additional paid vacation days off per year instead.

Holler's previous evaluation was conducted Dec. 6, 2006, where he received a 4 percent raise and a 3 percent bonus.