Worcester City Manager Up For Annual Performance Review

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. will get his 2019 performance review from the City Council on Tuesday night, looking back at a busy year that spanned the Polar Park development to the coronavirus pandemic.

Augustus was hired as city manager in 2014, and could remain on the job for years to come — the City Council last spring approved a new contract that keeps Augustus in Worcester until 2025.

Augustus has submitted a self-evaluation to the Council to show evidence of his accomplishments. In it, he touts items like bringing the Cannabis Control Commission to Union Station, land deals related to the Polar Park development, and ending the fiscal year with unused levy capacity approaching $20 million.

The evaluation also touches on some low points of the last 12 months, including the deaths of firefighters Jason Menard and Christopher Roy, and a pandemic that sickened over 5,100 Worcester residents.

"My administration and this city responded quickly at the outset, establishing a base at our Emergency Operations Center, and identifying and procuring the resources necessary to deal with the virus," he wrote. "As the toll grew higher, and increasingly stronger measures were taken at both a local and state level, we adapted and worked to continue providing integral city services."

Augustus is the highest paid city employee, earning $266,600 in 2019, according to MassLive.