Tag Archives: Farmersville city manager

local news

Princeton can follow neighbor’s lead

Princeton and Farmersville are far from being twin municipalities. Princeton’s population has exploded to more than 40,000 residents, while Farmersville sits just a bit north of 5,000 … or thereabouts.

However, Farmersville just went through a city manager search that was done in the open, with as much transparency as the hiring firm could allow. Princeton’s search for a city manager is beginning and the larger community’s approach appears quite promising, in that it will be far more transparent than the sequence that produced the previous manager, who resigned after spending less that two years on the job

Then-mayor Brianna Chacon promised a transparent search. She failed to deliver on that pledge. Mike Mashburn jumped out of the tall grass and met the city council for the first time, and then was hired on the spot after meeting the council in executive session. Few people ever saw Mashburn coming. The city has hired a firm to conduct a national search this time around. It promises a see-through process.

The Farmersville model for hiring a city manager ought to be followed by their friends in Princeton. The Farmersville council narrowed the list of applicants down to three, brought them in to meet the public and to get acquainted with the council. Farmersville then settled on Angela Smith to replace former City Manager Ben White, who resigned after 15 years on the job.

The Farmersville search process included town hall meetings with the finalists and although the sessions weren’t exactly well attended, the council sought to expose the finalists to the community they all sought to govern. My hope for Princeton is that the council follow the lead set by Farmersville.

There’s another aspect to the Princeton manager search that deserves a hand-clap. The firm that produces the finalist who gets hired will perform a search do-over at no cost to the city if the manager leaves his or her job with a year of being hired.

That’s a pretty damn good deal. I look forward to seeing how this process plays out.

local news

Two cities now in the hunt for new managers

So … just like we have two neighboring North Texas cities looking for the right person to lead municipal staffs and guide their cities toward the future.

Ben White, who had served as Farmersville city manager for 15 years, resigned suddenly the other evening. I called him the day after to wish him well, but he said he couldn’t discuss the details of his departure, telling me he had agreed to a clause that keeps him quiet. I get it.

Mike Mashburn had quit the Princeton city manager’s position a few days earlier after serving just shy of two years. I didn’t know Mashburn well enough to call him and I doubt he would have taken my call. His departure has the scent of a forced resignation, although the city council noted specifically he had resigned “voluntarily.”

I have worked in both communities for the past few years as a freelance reporter for weekly newspapers that serve the communities. I know Farmersville a good bit better than Princeton, where I live.

My sense is that Farmersville’s council thought it was time for White to call it a career. I believe the city is well run and lacks much of the turmoil that bedevils Princeton.

I now shall reissue my call to both city councils as they begin their search for a new chief administrator, which is to insist they do so in the open. Do not spring anyone on the community without first giving us a chance to give them the once-over. Mashburn took the reins in Princeton without any prior exposure to the public. That was a bad call.

Ben White has been a dependable hand, but Farmersville does have nagging issues with which it must deal.

Streets! They are in terrible condition. Gotta get ’em fixed and made passable.

So, change is afoot in these two communities. I wish the city councils well as they embark on the search to find a new person. Just don’t mess up the process.