City of Dubuque To Implement Performance Reviews

After months of in-fighting this summer over claims of harassment and discrimination, City of Dubuque officials are poised to spend tens of thousands of dollars to try to improve the workplace culture in City Hall. City Council members met this weekend for the first of six scheduled departmental budget hearings prior to adopting next year’s city budget. The city is required by state law to set its budget by March 30. Under the proposal, Dubuque would spend $190,600 for the fiscal year beginning July 1 to, in part, conduct biennial performance reviews of the city manager and department heads. Money would also be used to train city staff on conflict resolution under budget requests from the city manager’s office and human resources staff. The move comes after a majority of council members last summer pushed to fire longtime City Manager Mike Van Milligen.