Council Rejects City Manager’s Demand for Raise After Critical Job Evaluation

The Pasadena City Council has rejected City Manager Philip Hawkey’s demand for a pay raise.

Monday night’s request may not have been the best-timed, given that the council’s latest evaluation of Hawkey says he is little better than average and needs to shape up.

Negative comments about Hawkey far outnumbered the positive in a confidential quarterly performance evaluation obtained by The Times. While Hawkey is called a “smart, hard worker,” he is also “not a leader” and “not politically astute,” according to the report by five of the seven council members.

Hawkey, who throughout his five-year tenure has come under fire, got the results in December and discussed it privately last week with the council. On the report’s scale of 0 to 3, Hawkey scored a 1.8. “The majority of the City Council still supports Mr. Hawkey and that is the only evaluation that counts,” said Councilman Paul Little, who along with colleagues William E. Thomson, Ann-Maria Villicana and William Crowfoot supports Hawkey’s continued tenure.

But Vice Mayor Chris Holden says the city can ill afford a manager who fails to meet expectations. “In a city like Pasadena, you must have a first-class manager,” Holden said.

Hawkey, who obtained a two-year contract last summer, said the evaluation was skewed by council members who are upset with him and that the report fails to mention many of his successes. “I’m a very good city manager,” he said. “The city is better off now than five years ago.” . . .