By Sam Conner The Winslow City Council met Tuesday in a special session for City Manager Stephen Pauken’s performance evaluation, and gave him good reviews. The meeting was open to the public. In preparation for the discussion, the council had an eight-page report on a variety of topics from Pauken, which he had given to them two weeks ago. Pauken spoke at the beginning of the meeting, saying that the report showed what we have accomplished as a community and who we are. He noted that the people of Winslow like what the city is doing. He said that there were three parts of the report he had given the council that he wanted to call special attention to, the fire department, the blight removal efforts and the finance department. He pointed out that last year he had described the fire department as understaffed, undertrained and underfunded. That has been made much better, as the department has more firefighters who are better trained and a much needed new fire truck. There has been progress in blight removal best symbolized by the removal of the LZ Motel. Pauken noted that this is an area where much needs to be done, including the fixing or removal of signs that are blight. He said that the addition of Finance Director Elias Jouen has been a great benefit, and quoted him as saying, “We can’t control our revenue, but we can control our costs.” Pauken said that is being done, as the auditor’s report in the regular meeting would show. All of the council members present made favorable comments about Pauken’s leadership. Mayor Robin Boyd said that he would ask himself, “Did we move forward or fall backwards?” He noted that under Pauken, the city is moving forward. Councilman Harold Soehner asked if there was anything that did not get done, and agreed that what had been done was good and was in the right direction. Councilman Bob Schlesinger agreed that blight removal is important and should continue. He also noted that economic growth is important. Councilman Curtis Hardy said that he is glad that Pauken had gotten out and met the people, and that they were proud of what he and the city staff were doing. Pauken advised those attending that the “street people” problem is one faced by every community in the area, and that he has been working with the leadership of the Navajo Nation. He said that it will only be solved when all of the communities and the Navajo Nation will work together to make improvements and find a solution.