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June
2008 The Texas City Management Association is pleased to send you this month’s edition of the Management Messenger. It features recent changes in city management positions around the state, current job listings, names of new members, information about upcoming educational events, and news about our colleagues. The newsletter and past issues are also posted at http://www.tcma.org/newsletter.htm. You play an important role in the ethics process. Acquaint yourself with the Code of Ethics and its Rules of Procedure for Enforcement . Please remember to browse through YOUR Web site, http://www.tcma.org.
Tim Atkinson is no longer the city administrator for the City of Clyde. Edward Chance is no longer the city administrator for the City of Blossom. Claude Day is no longer the city manager for the City of Roby. Richard Kelly is the new city manager there. Stan Farmer is the new city manager for the City of Horseshoe Bay. Tom Ginter is no longer the city manager for the City of Aransas Pass. Mike Sullinger is serving as the interim city manager. Jena Hawkins is no longer the city administrator for the City of Rhome. Ronald Holland is no longer the city manager for the City of Eagle Lake. George K. Jones is no longer the city administrator for the City of Woodville. He will be the new city manager for the City of Drumright, Oklahoma, beginning June 5. Thom Lauer is no longer the city administrator for the City of Wilmer. Brenda Lewallen is the new city administrator for the City of Hackberry. Dion Miller is no longer the city manager for the City of Mineola. Glenn Mutcher, police chief for the City of Cuero, is the acting city manager there. Tamara Null, current city secretary, is the acting city manager for the City of Oak Point. Craig Owens will no longer be the city manager for the City of Rowlett effective June 27. Craig will be the city manager for the City of Clayton, Missouri. Jack Smith is no longer the city administrator for the City of Krum. Barry Stephens is no longer the city administrator for the City of Sundown. Richard A. Tow, Jr., current city administrator for the City of Alvord, will be the new city manager for the City of Cameron effective July 1. Click here to see if you qualify for TCMA In-transition Services. For a list of current city management job openings in Texas, please click here. The TCMA Management Messenger introduces and welcomes Michael Kovacs, city manager for the City of Port Aransas. Michael has served the City of Port Aransas since 2004. Prior to his appointment, he served as town administrator for the Town of Surfside, South Carolina, located in the Myrtle Beach area. He is currently the TCMA Region 9 president. Michael holds an MPA from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi and has 10 years of experience in city management, most of which have been focused on tourism destinations. Michael has been married to his wife Fonya for 12 years. They have three boys in elementary school. Michael enjoys surfing and hockey. Joe Painter, former city manager for the City of Live Oak, is now the new mayor. Corlis Riedesel has retired as the city manager for the City of Cuero. Corlis served the City of Cuero for 30 years, including 10 years as city manager. The Management Messenger extends congratulations to Crista Bromley, the 2006 Barney Knight CPM scholar. Crista has completed all coursework and graduates in June. She wishes to extend her appreciation to TCMA for making it possible to complete the program. Crista states, “The presentations and assignments have directly influenced me in my position at the City of Burnet and will serve me well as I go forward in my career. I very much appreciate the Texas City Management Association’s faith in me through the awarding of the scholarship.” Lanny Lambert, city manager for the City of Leon Valley, was recently awarded the 2008 Starfish Award from Northwest Vista College (NVC). The award recognizes a faculty or staff member who has made a significant contribution or impact to the educational experience at NVC. A student stated, “Texas government came alive every Saturday morning under Mr. Lambert’s expert guidance. . . The energy and enthusiasm Mr. Lambert brought into his lessons were amazing to experience.” Economic Development Assistance The Texas Comptroller’s Office has launched a new Web site called Texas Ahead. The site is a portal to economic resources and opportunities available in Texas. The site also provides a link to Texas EDGE. Texas EDGE is an online data center created to provide up-to-date data for accurate planning and economic forecasting. The Web site is located at www.texasahead.org. On January 12, 2007, the TCMA Board adopted a requirement of two hours of ethics training each year as a condition of continued TCMA membership. Shortly thereafter, the TCMA membership was notified. In addition, a memo with details of the requirement was provided in conjunction with the October TCMA dues renewal notice. The deadline for the first-year requirement is September 30, 2008. All TCMA members must attend a TCMA- or ICMA-sponsored ethics session and provide documentation that they have met the requirement on the TCMA membership dues renewal notice, to be mailed during the first week of October 2008. The dues renewal notice will provide space to indicate that the requirement was met and where the required ethics training was completed. Random checks may be made to ensure TCMA member compliance with this new training requirement. TCMA members may choose to satisfy the ethics training requirement through the new TCMA online ethics course. This course, which was developed by the TCMA Ethics Committee, addresses the major tenets of the TCMA Code of Ethics. The course can be completed at www.esslearning.com/tcma. A required login and password can be created during the first visit. Individuals taking the online course will be required to pay a $35 administrative fee to E-Strategy Solutions, the company hosting the course. Beginning July 1, 2008, the online ethics course is also required for TCMA membership applicants. Anyone applying for membership must attach a copy of the course completion certificate to the application. Individuals joining TCMA as a “student” or “intern” need only pay the $35 administrative fee to complete the online ethics course and attach a copy of the completion certificate to the application. Membership dues for students and interns will remain at $25 for subsequent years. For more information, contact James Fisher, TCMA Ethics Committee chair, at 972-468-4007 or jfisher@murphytx.org, or Kyle Jung at 512-231-7450 or kjung@tml.org. At its March 30, 2007, meeting, the TCMA Board approved a recommendation that names of new member applicants be published each month in the Management Messenger. Any written objection during a subsequent 30-day period will be reviewed by the TCMA Membership Committee. If no objections are received during this time, the names will be submitted for Board approval at the next scheduled Board meeting. Written objections can be mailed to: TCMA, Attention: Membership Committee, 1821 Rutherford Lane, Suite 400, Austin, TX 78754. Applications received for the month of May: Full: Hector M. Hinojosa, Assistant City Manager, City of Alice; David Husman, City Manager, City of Gonzales; Peter E. Maldonado, City Administrator, City of Poteet; Vicky Rudy, City Administrator, City of Rollingwood; Harold Steve Schmidt-Witcher, City Manager, City of Cactus Associate: Brandon Montgomery, Redevelopment Specialist, City of Tyler; Katherine Woerner, Management Analyst, City of Cedar Park; Rick White, Administrative Manager, City of Round Rock Student: Angela Y. Ramirez, Administrative Intern, Town of Addison; Robert C. Young, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas-Austin The Career Management Task Force met via conference call on Tuesday, May 13. Minutes are on the TCMA Web site at www.tcma.org (place your cursor over “Committees” and select “Career Management,” then “Current Meeting Minutes”). Carter Sieber wishes to express his appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the TCMA Internship Program. Carter was hired as an intern during the first year the program was offered. He states that as an MPA student at the University of North Texas, he was preparing to drop out of college because he had spent six months searching for an internship with no success. Shortly before following through on his decision, he received an invitation for an interview from two cities participating in the TCMA Internship Program. He was offered and accepted an internship with the City of Colleyville, where he worked in the city manager’s office. When the internship ended, Carter was offered a four-month extension to work in the public works department. His positive experience with the internship allowed him to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to jump-start his career. He is currently employed with the Office of Rural Community Affairs for the State of Texas. Carter works with numerous small cities (managers, councils, and mayors) throughout Texas to repair and rebuild critical infrastructure. Carter states, “TCMA really did help launch my career, and I’m sincere about supporting the internship program and TCMA in the future.” Please make a note of these upcoming TML educational events: Workshop on Texas Cities and Their Youth, June 9, Austin Texas Municipal League Legislative Outlook 2008, June 30, Arlington Public Funds Investment Act Workshop, August 14-15, 2008, Austin Texas Municipal League Technology Summit IV, September 11-12, Lewisville TML Small Cities’ Problem-Solving Clinic, July 11, Ganado; August 1, Dimmitt; September 5, Austin; September 26, Decatur We also encourage you to visit the entire TML Web site at http://www.tml.org. If you have some interesting news that you would like to see included in the Management Messenger, please e-mail messenger@tml.org. |
| ©2010 Texas City Management Association Austin, Texas 512-231-7400 |
