T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer, left, reads from the performance review of City Administrator Carol Webb, right, during Monday night’s city council meeting. Just over a year after she started on the job, the council voted unanimously to extend Webb’s contract by a year and add a week of vacation, keeping her with the city until at least 2028.

It’s been just over a year now since Carol Webb took on her current role as Marshalltown’s city administrator, and during Monday night’s meeting, the city council unanimously voted to extend her initial three-year contract another year after a “glowing” performance review, in the words of Mayor Joel Greer.

After explaining that a change in state law now requires such reviews to be conducted in open session, Greer said city staff and elected officials conduct “a 360 degree look” at Webb’s performance with department heads, the mayor and council filling out a detailed survey compiled by Human Resources Director Jill Petermeier.

“To spoil everybody’s fun and jump to the bottom line, it was a glowing review,” Greer said.

Councilor Gary Thompson asked for a point of order on whether the mayor had Webb’s permission to read the document as he understood it to be confidential, and she gave the all clear to share it. From there, Greer began to summarize it, noting that Webb’s review was very positive and the city administrator is someone who “pays attention to goals, is forward thinking and offers fact-based solutions.”

“She listens well to staff, councilors and citizens, is available with an open-door policy and is a responsive, consistent and effective communicator,” Greer said. “She has dealt with a significant turnover in her leadership team this year, which has presented some learning curves for the new staff and for her.”

Suggested improvements included giving recommendations earlier in processes and taking a stronger role in transitioning leaders into new responsibilities. As a result of the review, Webb said she would agree to stay at the same salary — which was $195,000 at the time of her hiring — if another week of vacation was added. Greer felt this option would save the city money and get Webb up to the five weeks of vacation she had at her previous job in Muscatine.

Greer and Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Ladehoff characterized her offer as “generous” and, in return, asked that Webb add another year to her current three-year contract to keep her through 2028. Councilor Greg Nichols quickly made a motion to approve the amended terms, and Thompson jokingly asked if she would be taking a five-week vacation next week upon its acceptance.

“No, sir,” she replied.

During the public comment period, Lonnie Hogeland commended Webb for doing “an amazing job.”

“Whenever I want to reach out to her, she got a hold of me quick. I got a hold of Alicia (Hunter) the other, other, other day and I told her I’d like to talk to Carol. She got a hold of me fast, and we had a conversation. And she’s a great lady. She’s doing great,” he said.

Greer commented that no one was more relieved than himself to have Webb in the position after a tumultuous period that began with the departure of former City Administrator Jessica Kinser in 2023, the hiring of two temporary city administrators in Bob Fagen and Cindy Kendall and the brief tenure of Joe Gaa, which lasted just 4 ½ months before his abrupt resignation in January of 2024.

“Having her come here and take charge of things and meet the staff and keep things rolling has just been a real weight off of my shoulders, and I think the next mayor’s really gonna appreciate having her here,” Greer said.

The motion to approve the contract extension passed by a unanimous 7-0 vote.

“Good. You’re stuck with us another three years,” Greer said.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved a Class C retail alcohol license for the American Legion Post #46 at 1301 S. 6th St. by a 6-1 vote with Mark Mitchell opposed.

• Heard a quarterly update on the Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT) from community advocates Tiffany Beadle and Suzy Reed.

• Approved the awarding of contract to Mid-Iowa Enterprises LLC in the amount of $400,623.78 for the 2025 HMA crack and joint sealing project.

• Approved a resolution for the conveyance and transfer of title for East Linn Street between South 8th Avenue and the railroad tracks to MARSHALLTOWN Company as part of their expansion project.

• Approved the third and final reading of an amendment to Chapter 73 of the code of ordinances pertaining to recreational vehicles, bicycles, skateboards and associated code references.

• Approved bringing back updates to the Technology Master Plan in the form of a formal resolution as presented in the council packet.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.