Brownwood City Council named Emily Crawford, current Executive Director of the Brownwood Economic Development Corporation and Assistant City Manager, as the sole finalist for the Brownwood city manager position.
After approximately two hours of interviews and discussion, the council unanimously approved the choice of Crawford as lone finalist for the position on Tuesday.
Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes thanked current City Manager Bobby Rountree for the job he has done and stated, “He will not be easy to replace. The job will be difficult.” Haynes stated that the council wanted to consider employees within.
Although Rountree will not officially retire until June 23, 2015, the council felt it was imperative to move quickly in hiring a new city manager for several reasons including the recent retirements of Don Hatcher, city engineer and department head of public works and Director Alicia Long of the Health Department so the new city manager could have some input in the selection in the fulfillment of those roles. City officials also said that they wanted to name a new city manager now since the budget process begins in May and June.
The council will now consider contract negotiations and then offer a contract to Crawford. Should she accept, the council would take a vote on the hiring of Crawford as the city manager at the next meeting of the council in two weeks. If she is named city manager, then the position of Executive Director of BEDC would then also be vacant and would according to Haynes be “another important position that needs to be quickly filled.”
These are some very prominent positions that need to be filled, and there are other city employees who have expressed interest in the positions and the possibility of promotion, explained Mayor Haynes.
“This is the first step in filling some important positions within the city of Brownwood, some positions that have not been open in a long time,” said Haynes. “I think it is exciting for the city’s future, to have this first step taken with Mrs. Crawford, according to all indications, as the city manager where she will be able to put her input in the hiring of all these positions and give input in hiring of a new EDC director.”
Crawford stated that she is excited about this opportunity. When she started working at the BEDC four years ago, she stated she would not have anticipated being nominated for this position of city manager.
“I’m truly honored to be considered to replace such a great city manager that Bobby Rountree has been. He will be very difficult to replace; however, I know that this city is in a really great position right now,” explained Crawford. “We have an incredible staff, we are fiscally sound; we have got a lot of opportunities headed our way. So I am looking forward to the challenge and looking forward with this team. I will continue working with the existing city staff and council.”
Crawford stated that she has enjoyed working with the city and is looking forward to continuing her career with the city and its future opportunities.
“I have appreciated working with the city staff. We have lots of opportunity to make our city a wonderful place to live, a wonderful place to work and raise families,” said Crawford. “Not every decision will be easy but I really believe in the city staff and the council and together we will be able to do great things.”
Crawford’s official start date is anticipated to be June 24th once the final contract approval is completed.
