Newsletter Archive

Management Messenger
Online News of the Texas City Management Association

Reach Out to Your Colleagues
Have you contacted an intransition member? A call, card, or visit to a colleague who finds him or herself in between jobs or just facing a difficult challenge can make a positive difference. Pick up the phone, jot down some encouraging words in a note or extend a lunch invitation. These seemingly small actions can make a big impact. Do not underestimate the value of hearing from someone that cares. Click here for a list of current in transition members.

July 2005

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, as well as news about our colleagues.

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

MANAGEMENT TRANSITIONS…

P. R. Avila II is no longer City Manager of Elsa, effective May 27. Finance Officer Nancy Sanchez was named Interim City Manager there on May 16.

Don Wilson, former Deputy City Manager in Grand Prairie, has been appointed City Manager of Eastland, effective June 1.

J. Scott Thompson was named City Manager of Aransas Pass on June 6.

Albert Uresti is no longer City Manager of Pearsall, effective June 7. Jose G. Treviño, former City Manager in Pearsall, has been named Interim City Manager there.

Joseph Gambill, Jr., is no longer City Administrator of Lucas, effective June 20. Former Mayor Tom Fleps has been named Interim City Administrator there.

Sam Watson resigned as City Manager of Haskell in June.

Gary Jackson, former City Manager in Fort Worth, has been appointed City Manager of Asheville, North Carolina, effective June 27.

Isauro Treviño resigned as City Manager of Mission on June 28.

Paul Mendes, City Administrator of Oak Ridge North, became City Manager there on July 1.

Mike Castro has resigned as Assistant City Manager in Longview to become City Manager of Jersey Village, effective July 11.

Billy Clemons, former Mayor of Groveton, has been appointed City Administrator/Secretary in Alto, effective July 11.

Ricky Crownover, City Manager in Hollis, Oklahoma, has been named City Manager of Tulia, effective August 1.

Chuck Pinto will resign as City Manager of New Braunfels to become City Manager of League City, effective September 1.

Steve McCullough has announced his pending retirement as City Manager of Irving, effective September 30.

Van James, Town Manager in Flower Mound, has announced that he will resign on December 31 of this year.

CURRENT OPENINGS…

For a list of current city management job openings in Texas, please visit http://www.tcma.org/jobs_openings.html ..

WITH SYMPATHY…

Our sincere condolences are extended to the family of Paula Wilson, who passed away on June 22. Paula resigned as City Manager of Tulia recently, due to health issues, and she was also a former City Manager of Friona. Paula’s family suggests that memorials be made to BSA Hospice, 200 N.W. Seventh Avenue, Amarillo, Texas 79101.

PLEASE WELCOME…

Join us in welcoming the following new members of TCMA, whose memberships were approved by the Board at their meeting on June 9:

LIFE
Benito Lopez, Former City Manager, Pharr, Hidalgo, Floresville, and Mission, and ACM, Pharr

FULL
Steve Bartels, Assistant City Manager, Hereford
Don Christian, Assistant City Manager, Killeen
Connie J. Green, Acting City Manager, Killeen
Charles R. Fenner, Former City Manager, Canton
Rudy Garza, Assistant City Manager, Austin
Megan S. Henderson, City Manager, Rosebud
Jim Holgersson, City Manager, Arlington
Michael Kovacs, City Manager, Port Aransas
David A. Vela, Assistant City Manager, Alice
Stan Weik, Assistant City Manager, Brazoria

ASSOCIATE
Mike Goodrum, Management Asst. II, Sugar Land
Ericka Hayes, Management Assistant, Sugar Land

STUDENT/INTERN
Eugene (E. A.) Hoppe IV, Intern/Student, Richardson
Nathan Miles Kolenovsky, Intern/Student, Balcones Heights
Courtney Smith Walck, Intern/Student, Lubbock

TCMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE…

Galveston was a beautiful setting for the TCMA Annual Conference on June 10-13. Almost 600 people attended the four-day event, including 319 delegates, 157 guests, and 122 youth. Following are only a few of the highlights of the conference:

• For the first time, the winners of this year’s TCMA Professional Awards were announced during the Opening General Session on Friday afternoon. The first award presented was the Lifetime Achievement Award, which went to Ron Cox, City Manager in Friendswood. Next, Allen Bogard, City Manager of Sugar Land, was named Administrator of the Year. Then Pat Gwyn made a moving tribute to her husband Gary—Past President of TCMA and ICMA; former City Manager of Grand Prairie, Tyler, Edinburg, and Canyon; Assistant City Manager of Irving and Fort Worth; and General Manager of the Brazos River Authority—who passed away last summer. After testimonials to Gary’s influence in their lives by Linda Groomer (City Manager, Farmers Branch) and Bob Turner (City Manager, Tyler), Pat presented TCMA’s first Mentoring Award in Memory of Gary Gwyn to Tom Hart, City Manager of Grand Prairie.
• The General Session on Saturday morning featured a presentation on financial planning by the Total Compensation Group (TCG) consulting firm in Austin. They introduced a pilot program sponsored by TCMA. Their presentation can be reviewed by visiting http://www.tcma.org/ppt/2005FinancialPlanning-TCG.ppt . TCMA members interested in learning more about this new TCMA service can download a form, which includes instructions on completing and submitting the document, at http://www.tcma.org/pdf/2005FinancialPlanningForm.pdf . Also, TCMA members who would like for the TCG team to discuss the program at an upcoming region meeting are invited to contact TCMA at 512-231-7400.
• At the Business Meeting Saturday afternoon, TCMA members approved a constitutional amendment that will allow Life and Distinguished members of TCMA to endorse applications for TCMA membership.
• Members of the 2005-2006 TCMA Board of Directors, who took office at the conclusion of the Annual Conference, are:
  President: Rickey Childers, City Manager, Longview
  President Elect: Mark McDaniel, Deputy City Manager, Tyler
  Vice President: Mike Perez, City Manager, McAllen
  Region 1 Director: Linda Weller, City Manager, Gruver
  Region 2 Director: Jared Miller, City Manager, Crosbyton
  Region 3 Director: Darron Leiker, Interim City Manager, Wichita Falls
  Region 4 Director: Tom Hart, City Manager, Grand Prairie
  Region 5 Director: Jim Blanchard, City Manager, Mount Vernon
  Region 6 Director: Ricky Jorgensen, City Manager, Vidor
  Region 7 Director: Richard (Dick) Fletcher, City Manager, Robinson
  Region 8 Director: Larry Dovalina, City Manager, Laredo
  Region 9 Director: Tom Blazek, City Manager, Rockport
  Region 10 Director: Leonardo Olivares, City Manager, Rio Grande City
  Director-at-Large: Laura Huffman, Assistant City Manager, Austin
  TML Board Representative: David Landis, City Manager, Perryton
  Immediate Past President: Craig Lonon, City Manager, Cedar Park
  Assistants’ Organizations Representative: Eric Olmedo, Budget Officer, Rowlett

  Also, the new TCMA Region Presidents are:
  Region 1: Gary Brown, City Manager, Floydada
  Region 2: Jared Miller, City Manager, Crosbyton
  Region 3: Jack Harper II, City Manager, Stamford
  Region 4: Alan Sims, City Manager, Cedar Hill
  Region 5: Greg Smith, City Manager, Henderson
  Region 6: Michael Ross, City Manager, West University Place
  Region 7: Terry Roberts, City Manager, Brenham
  Region 8: Drew Traeger, City Administrator, Hollywood Park
  Region 9: Gary Broz, City Manager, Port Lavaca
  Region 10: Leonardo Olivares, City Administrator, Rio Grande City

TCMA TIDINGS…

• The printed 2005-2006 TCMA Directory will be printed in August and distributed to TCMA members.
• NOTICE—Committee and Task Force Volunteers are needed! The TCMA Region Presidents will be making regional appointments to TCMA committees soon. Each TCMA region has one slot on each of the four committees. If you are a voting member of TCMA and interested in submitting your name for consideration, let your Region President know as soon as possible (see the list of Presidents above). If you would like to volunteer for a task force and are a TCMA voting member, please send your name to Kyle Jung via e-mail (kyle@tml.org), and your name will be referred to the TCMA President for consideration. Task forces are limited to a maximum of 25 people, and no more than two people from the same city can serve on the same task force.

UPDATE ON OUR TOWN, TEXAS…

A CD of the new Our Town, Texas curriculum for elementary students is now available! If you would like to obtain a copy for your local school district, please contact TCMA staff at 512-231-7400. You can also download the material from the Our Town, Texas Web site; activities for Kindergarten and Grade One are located at http://www.ourtowntexas.org/Primary.htm , and materials for Grades 2-5 can be found by visiting http://www.ourtowntexas.org/Elementary.htm .

ETHICS EMPHASIS...

The TCMA Board intends to periodically highlight guidelines of the TCMA Code of Ethics in the Management Messenger. The “Elections” guideline, which applies to Tenet 7 of the Code, is quoted this month:

“Elections. Members share with their fellow citizens the right and responsibility to vote and to voice their opinion on public issues. However, in order not to impair their effectiveness on behalf of the local governments they serve, they should not participate in political activities to support the candidacy of individuals running for any city, county, special district, school, state or federal offices. Specifically, they shall not endorse candidates, make financial contributions, sign or circulate petitions, or participate in fund-raising activities for individuals seeking or holding elected office.

MEMO ON MEETINGS…

• The TCMA Board met on June 9, during the Annual Conference in Galveston. Minutes are now posted at http://www.tcma.org/Current_brdmin.htm . During the meeting, the Board:
  1. Awarded the 2007 TCMA Annual Conference to the City of San Antonio, with the conference to be held at the Crowne Plaza Riverwalk Hotel (subject to contract negotiations).
  2. Voted to change the wording of TCMA’s Hospitality Suite and Sponsorship Policies to make it clearer about the types of functions that are discouraged at the Annual Conference.
  3. Adopted a policy that every TCMA Annual Conference will include an ethics session.

TML TIDBITS…

• It isn’t too late for the winners of your city elections to register for one of the “Newly-Elected City Officials’ Orientations” scheduled by TML. The same program will be presented on three different dates at various locations: July 22-23 in Abilene, August 12-13 in Sugar Land, and August 26-27 in Irving. Visit http://www.tml.org/ed_newoff.html for more information and a registration form.
• TML will host three upcoming Public Funds Investment Law Workshops: July 28-29 in Dallas, December 8-9 in San Antonio, and February 9-10, 2006, in Corpus Christi. Details and online registration are available at http://www.tml.org/ed_pubfunds.html .
• Mark your calendar! The TML Municipal Technology Summit will be held at the new Marriott Resort in Horseshoe Bay on September 15-16. Information about this workshop is posted at http://www.tml.org/ed_tech.html , where you can also register on line.
• Publicity for the TML Annual Conference will be available later this month! The conference is scheduled for October 26-29 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine. You will be able to read all the specifics and register soon at http://www.tml.org/ed_calendar.html .

Remember, you can always access the current issue of TML’s Legislative Update from the Home Page of the TML Web site ( http://www.tml.org ). Just click on “Current Issue” under “News and Events.”

We also encourage you to visit the entire TML Web site at http://www.tml.org .

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