Primary Department: County Administration
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Jesse Dickerman, Interim County Administrator
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: N/A
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Transmittal
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Transmittal by the Office of County Administration of the status of the goal-setting process for the 15 OCA-reporting department heads for FY26.
end
Background and Discussion:
On May 8, 2025, Commissioners Court directed the Interim County Administrator to “[w]ork with Human Resources & Talent (HRT) to finalize HRT’s proposed process and system for evaluating the OCA-reporting Department Heads annually so that evaluations can start in FY26,” and to “[s]uggest draft goals and expectations for OCA-reporting Department Heads before FY26.”
During the August 26 Commissioners Court meeting, the Office of County Administration (OCA) presented a proposed Department Head Annual Performance Evaluation form and an accompanying Goals & Expectations Worksheet along with a Process Timeline. The Process Timeline included a plan for the Interim County Administrator to hold one-on-one meetings with each OCA-reporting department head to discuss and eventually finalize Goals/Expectations Worksheets completed by Department Heads. In addition, during the August 26 Commissioners Court meeting, Court directed OCA to provide training to department heads on performance expectations before their first evaluation.
During the week of September 8, the Interim County Administrator led three trainings with OCA-reporting Department Heads attended at least one training. Newer department heads received the same training materials. These trainings provided Department Heads with an overview of the purpose of performance evaluations and of the evaluation rubric, how performance evaluations align with the Strategic Plan, an introduction to and instructions for completing the Goals and Expectations worksheet, and an outline of the 360° feedback process and timeline.
Following the trainings, the Interim County Administrator began conducting individual one-on-one meetings with each Department Head to discuss potential goals and performance expectations for FY26. At the time of submission of this transmittal on October 20, the Interim County Administrator has met with 10 of 15 Department Heads, with the remaining five meetings scheduled to take place before October 30. Attached is a list of Department Heads and the current status of their meetings with the Interim County Administrator.
We expect to have most if not all of the Department Heads’ Goals & Expectations Worksheets finalized (or nearly complete) by October 30, 2025.
Expected Impact:
N/A
Alternative Options:
N/A
County Strategic Plan Goal: N/A
County Strategic Plan Objective: N/A
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan: The Department Head Performance Evaluation process is focused significantly on many of the Strategic Initiatives within the Strategic Plan, and this process aligns with the “Leading with accountability” Guiding Principle that is included in the Strategic Plan.
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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8/26/2025 |
1 |
Commissioners Court directed the Office of County Administration to provide a training to department heads on performance expectations before their first evaluation. |
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5/8/2025 |
19 |
To approve the Interim Administrator Priorities as presented and to add them to the Duties & Responsibilities section of the June 2023 County Administrator job description to create an updated job description for the Interim County Administrator. One of the approved Priorities reads as follows: “Work with Human Resources & Talent (HRT) to finalize HRT’s proposed process and system for evaluating the OCA-reporting Department Heads annually so that evaluations can start in FY26. Suggest draft goals and expectations for OCA-reporting Department Heads before FY26. Work with HRT to refine the process and system for evaluating the County Administrator.” |
|
4/21/2025 |
5 |
Commissioners Court directed OCA to work with Court offices and return on May 8th with a revised job description specific to the Interim County Administrator. |
Location: N/A
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Anticipated Court Date: 10/30/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 10/30/2025
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Jesse Dickerman, Interim County Administrator
Attachments (if applicable): Status of Department Head Goals and Expectation.pdf; Goals and Expectations Worksheet template.pdf