Tag Archives: Mike Mashburn

local news

City needs careful search for new manager

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My head is still spinning over the news that former Princeton City Manager Mike Mashburn quit after less than two years on the job in the fastest-growing city in the United States of America.

I am trying to process the enormous task that awaits the City Council as it ponders who to hire to manage that explosive growth. Frankly, this is where the council is going to earn its keep … which doesn’t involve money because the council basically serves for zero pay.

Mashburn seemed to be in way over his head as Princeton’s chief municipal officer. The city is growing at a 30% annual clip, totaling today more than 45,000 residents — give or take. It falls on the city manager to ensure the city can provide services to those new residents who are flocking here because of the relatively inexpensive cost of housing.

Princeton by definition has become a classic bedroom community, with the vast majority of its growth coming with new homes being built. The city has added little commercial development compared to what has occurred with its residential explosion.

What kind of individual should the council hire? Here’s an idea. The city needs to find someone with proven skill at managing a city on the go, such as Princeton. There might be a newly retired city manager out there looking for a challenge. My goodness, Princeton’s enormous growth rate should present anyone with a significant task of managing its constant change.

Or … there might be a younger person lurking who has a bold vision for what he or she wants in this city. He or she might have a doable plan that guides Princeton from a city known primarily for its hideous traffic along its main drag to a place full of entertainment opportunities. I have lost count of the times people have asked me, “How do you cope with that traffic?” I answer: It’s simple; I just stay home during rush hour. But if I have to plunge into the belly of that traffic beast, I always budget longer travel time knowing I will suffer through plenty of “stop time” on U.S. 380 or on any of the many side roads that thousands of others take to “avoid the traffic.”

I am left to wish the council good luck as it seeks to make this next key hiring decision. Oh, and one request must come with it: Conduct this search openly, telling us where you stand, where you are looking and what precisely you need in the next person who will manage the city I call home.

local news

Let’s get this one right

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Well, kids … the Mike Mashburn era at Princeton City Hall has come to an end with the resignation of the city manager after being on the job for just shy of two years.

The search now is on for the next chief municipal administrator. I am going to use this blog to insist loudly and clearly that the City Council must conduct the search in the open and avoid the underhanded appearance associated with Mashburn’s hiring. The council makes one hiring decision. It is the man or woman who will implement council policy. They had better get this next one right.

Mashburn came to Princeton from Farmers Branch, where he served as an assistant manager; his field of expertise is in parks and recreation, and I presume he carried out his duties well in Farmers Branch. However, he seemed to lack any general municipal administrative experience.

I happened to be present at the City Council meeting when the council met Mashburn for the first time, went into executive session and then returned to open session to hire him. The vote was unanimous. Frankly, it was an astonishing turn of events. Then-Mayor Brianna Chacon had met with Mashburn privately before presenting him to the council. She contended it was all done with full transparency. My view? No … it wasn’t.

Here’s an idea for the council to consider as it starts to collect data on prospective city manager candidates. Why not follow the lead of other cities and pare the list down to, oh, three or four finalists? Then the council can invite the finalists to Princeton to meet the public and also to visit at length with each of them to assess their respective strengths and/or look for possible weaknesses.

Fort Worth did something like that when it chose its current police chief. It settled on former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, but only after showing the public all of the finalists.

The Princeton city manager is going to make something in excess of a quarter-million bucks. He or she will inherit a job in a city that is in the midst of a growth explosion. We all have a stake in the quality of the person chosen for this job. It shouldn’t fall on one person to make that call all alone.

City officials moved into our new municipal center a while back pledging to conduct business in the open and in full public view. Let’s ensure the next city manager gets chosen in a manner that keeps that promise.

local news

High expectation for city manager

Mike Mashburn became Princeton’s city manager after a lengthy interview process with the mayor and reportedly a few senior city staffers.

He was introduced to the City Council, which met him in executive session; the council came back into open session and approved his appointment unanimously.

OK. Then came a peculiar event. The council approved a contract that pays the first-time chief municipal administrator a base salary of $240,000 annually. Not bad for a chief executive rookie. Then came a decision to give the new guy a bump in salary and an extension on his contract.

Get this: The new man hasn’t done anything — yet! — that commends a pay bump and a contract extension.

Mayor Brianna Chacon appears to be so high on this fellow that she is willing to pitch a pay and benefit increase on the hope that he’ll be a huge success.

Mashburn came to Princeton from Farmers Branch, where he served as an assistant city manager with duties that emphasized park development.

I have shaken Mashburn’s hand a couple of times. We haven’t yet spoken about anything of substance. I am struck, however, by the speed with which the council acted in approving the pay increase and contract extension.

Wouldn’t he first have to demonstrate his value? Wouldn’t the new city manager have to prove he is worth the faith that his employers have placed in him? That’s how they seem to do it in the world of private employment.

business news, local news

Let’s get busy, Mr. Manager

You may count me as a Princeton resident and taxpayer who has a growing fear of the future of what at the moment looks like a construction monstrosity.

They’re seeking to build a “luxury apartment” complex on the south side of US 380, just east of Walmart. Work stopped abruptly on the project in May 2023. The developer said he would hammer out a new deal with a contractor in 30 days.

Well, the 30-day window slammed shut. Still no contractor. Work is still waiting to resume … one year later!

Here’s a thought to toss at Princeton’s new city manager, Mike Mashburn. The city council recently gave Mashburn a five-figure increase in his base salary and extended his contract. This was done before Mashburn actually did anything in his new job!

My thought is that the city’s chief administrator has it within his power to summon the developer and any potential general contractors to his shiny new City Hall office. He should then order all the principals to work out an agreement that enables work to resume post haste.

I am not a construction expert, but I do know that time is not on the side of the contractors or the developer. The longer the complex is exposed to our fickle weather, the more damage is done to the exposed interior portions of the 360-unit complex.

Mashburn clearly has some skin in this game, as he now runs a municipal government with a direct stake in the success of this project.

I can guarantee that no one wants to be scarred by a project that falls victim to disputes of the type that has stalled work on this massive new project, which at the moment looks like nothing more than a massive eyesore.