From The Aspen Times: Basalt Town Manager Mike Scanlon has made a rare and unusual request for a government official to have a performance review in a public setting.

Scanlon asked the Town Council to debate his contract in an open session rather than the usual executive sessions, which are closed to press and public.

The council already held two closed sessions but didn’t reach a conclusion. Scanlon didn’t attend that meeting per standard policy.

Scanlon said he wants the review in public for a couple of reasons — to hopefully speed up the process and to debunk assumptions that there must be chasms between himself and the board because of the time the review is taking.

“There’s all this noise out there that drives me crazy,” he said.

Scanlon said he had no indication after the Dec. 8 and Jan. 5 council meeting that he wasn’t wanted back.

“They all came to me after the last meeting and said, ‘You have nothing to be worried about,’” he said.

Mayor Jacque Whitsitt declined Monday to speak about Scanlon’s review because it is a personnel matter. It doesn’t matter that the discussion is scheduled to be held in public, she said. Town officials still cannot discuss items in public prior to the meeting.

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