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Mill Creek MetroParks board gives park director mostly positive evaluations
CANFIELD
Mill Creek MetroParks board members gave Executive Director Aaron Young mostly positive evaluations of his job performance in 2016.
Board members Germaine Bennett, Lee Frey and Tom Shipka recently completed evaluations of Young’s work last year. Board members Thomas Frost and John Ragan did not submit evaluations; Frost was not on the board in 2016.
The evaluation forms asked reviewers to score Young on his leadership, organizational knowledge, judgment, decision-making, accountability, initiative and creativity, customer service/customer focus, internal communication, integrity, teamwork, planning and organizing, directing and controlling, quality of work, quantity of work, safety, attendance, and development plans.
One of the areas on which Young received top marks is planning, with Bennett noting that he “goes through great lengths in planning” and Shipka writing that Young “sets goals and works efficiently through them.”
Bennett, Frey and Shipka all gave Young high scores on his internal communications with staff.
They also rated him highly for his initiative and creativity, with Bennett writing that Young “has perseverance” and “stayed with the park through the changes.” For that category, Shipka wrote that Young is “hard-working, self-reliant and efficient.”
One area in which they all agreed Young could improve is customer service.
“Needs to better explain decisions to public,” wrote Frey. “Needs to work to have the public understand the process he uses to explain those decisions. Needs to get out into the park and introduce himself to people and hear what they have to say.”
Bennett noted that Young “is working on this and needs to get out more often.”
An area on which the evaluations differed was accountability. Shipka graded Young a “5” out of nine for accountability, and wrote that he “has been resistant to some changes proposed and adopted” by the board and “needs to accept and support them.”
Frey and Bennett, however, gave him high marks for accountability.
In his comments on Young’s job performance, Shipka – who gave Young the lowest marks of the three – noted the effects of Young’s implementation of a staff restructuring last year.
“The area where his marks are lower and where he can improve is in enlisting the aid and support of the board, the board’s seven standing committees, and the general public, including members of the Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens and his critics,” wrote Shipka. “The reorganization in February 2016 alienated many taxpayers and the traditional MCMP supporters; the executive director needs to work steadily and conscientiously to regain their support of MCMP and their trust in his leadership.”
Young did not respond to a Vindicator interview request.