Mercer Island City Manager Gets Glowing Review, But No Pay Bonus

MERCER ISLAND, WA - Mercer Island City Manager Julie Underwood just finished her second year on the job, and, according to her latest performance review, she's doing a good job. But that doesn't mean she'll get a pay bonus.

The Mercer Island City Council will accept Underwood's performance review on Tuesday. The review was done by the Seattle-based consulting firm Falconer Group along with the City Council, and is overall positive.

Mercer Island has a performance bonus program where managers can get between 1 and 4 percent of their annual salary as a reward. But Underwood has recommended the city give up that program by 2020 due to projected budget shortfalls in future years, directly related to the failure in November of Proposition 1. Underwood has volunteered to forgo her 2019 bonus.

There were a few areas where Underwood's reviewers thought she could improve. The review says that Underwood spent too much time "trying to influence Mercer Island’s constantly vocal critics" over Proposition 1.

The review also, it seemed, urged Underwood to take a vacation.

"2018 was a tough year that took its toll. Julie needs to find relief from a terribly stressful job and separate herself from public negativity. She will also need to adapt to a changing political landscape, something we’ll all need to do," the document says.

You can read Underwood's full performance review here.