Tag Archives: Derek Borg

local news

Severance coming … hmm?

Now comes a question that pops into my noggin whenever I hear about a senior public official being forced out of his high-paying, taxpayer-funded position.

Will he get a severance package to “soften” his landing?

The Princeton City Council on Friday accepted the resignation of City Manager Derek Borg, effective immediately. That tells me two things: He was told to resign and that had he resisted the council would have terminated him.

Does a city manager deserve a severance package when (a) he wasn’t doing the job, which prompted the meeting of the council in the first place and (b) resigns his office, which technically is a voluntary act.

Borg does not deserve a “golden parachute” to soften his landing. If he wasn’t performing to the standard set by his employers, the council, why “reward” him with a huge bonus … unless it’s an expression of thanks for saving the city from future grief?

I trust this information will come out in due course. I’m just offering an opinion on what I think should occur.

local news

Princeton manager search commences

President Biden said the other evening that the United States is “at an inflection point.” as it grapples with the complexity of world affairs. Well, so is the city in Collin County, Texas, that I now call home.

The Princeton City Council this week accepted the resignation of its city manager, Derek Borg. The council had called a special meeting to “discuss” the manager’s job performance. It met in closed session for two hours and then voted 5-0 to accept Borg’s resignation … effective immediately.

Inflection point? Boy howdy. Is it ever.

Princeton is in the midst of a growth explosion. Its population nearly tripled from the 2010 to the 2020 Census, from 6,807 residents to 17,027 residents. But the growth hasn’t even begun to abate. By most folks’ estimates, the population of Princeton has exceeded 25,000 people.

Which brings me to my point. The City Council must get this search, vetting and selection of a new chief municipal administrator right … or else!

The council makes one personnel hire under the terms of its charter. It chooses the city manager, who then selects department heads.

If I could write the ideal profile for a city manager to run a city on the move such as Princeton it would have to include “visionary.” It also must include someone with experience administering another city going through the growth that is happening in Princeton. The city manager must be creative and forward-thinking.

Princeton does not need a caretaker, a placeholder, someone who is just marking time until retirement. Princeton’s growth requires a city administration led by someone who knows where he or she wants to take this community.

I don’t want to overstate it, but I do believe this community has reached its form of “inflection” as it grapples with overwhelming growth. It needs a city manager who can take charge of City Hall’s municipal machinery.

To the City Council, I only can add that it is time to get busy.