Tag Archives: Princeton City Hall

local news

Make next manager live here

Former Princeton City Manager Mike Mashburn got away with a dodge that should have been termed unacceptable.

Mashburn was hired by the City Council to help establish a budget that would fall on the shoulders of the city’s 40,000 resident to pay. The city manager wasn’t one of them. He lived far outside the city limits, thus absolving himself of any fiscal responsibility for what he was asking the rest of us to pay.

The next city manager must not be allowed to wriggle off the fiscal hook in such a manner. Mashburn quit the city manager’s job after serving in that role for fewer than two years. The guy didn’t even live within Princeton’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. And yet, he was crafting a municipal budget that would be paid for fully by the rest of us.

This exemption bothered a number of residents, many of whom sought an amendment to the city charter that would require the manager to live within the city limits.

Just as maddening as the residency exemption was to many of us, Mashburn was able to negotiate a monthly travel allowance based solely on the city manager having to drive to work every day.

Let’s get real, shall we? The City Council makes precisely one hiring decision: it’s the city manager. The next individual who ends up managing the growth of the nation’s fastest-growing city should have to live here and share the burden he or she is asking the rest of us to bear. It’s a requirement that doesn’t need a charter amendment to give it standing.

local news

What’s happening at Princeton’s City Hall?

What in the name of tumult and tempest is going on at Princeton City Hall? I’m not covering it directly, but sources inside the place tell me there’s major chaos afoot.

Get a load of this: The city in the course of about three weeks has fired its legal counsel, lost its fire chief, who left to join another city’s fire department, accepted the sudden resignation of its interim city manager and then appointed its chief of police as its newest interim chief municipal executive.

All of this comes as the city awaits another Census Bureau report on municipal growth and Princeton, I am told, is likely to learn that it retains its standing as the fastest-growing city in the United States of America.

All of this has me shaking my noggin and wondering whether the city ever will be able to wrap its arms around the confusion that permeates City Hall.

Of the personnel upheaval that has upset city governance, the resignation of the city manager perhaps is most stunning. The mayor, Victor Escobar, had expressed supreme confidence in the fellow they hired to succeed Mike Mashburn, who resigned just short of being on the job for two years. Mashburn wasn’t cutting it, so he quit effective immediately. There was no “buyout” associated with his resignation, which tells me the City Council is glad he’s gone.

Then came the decision to elevate Police Chief Jim Waters as interim city manager, giving Waters a second full-time job in addition to protecting Princeton’s residents against bad guys. Maybe it’s just me, but I am trying to understand how Waters will be able to do both jobs well enough to maintain a firm grip on the issues that affect either of them.

Last I heard, the city slapped a building ban on new residential construction to enable the city shore up its police and fire protection. Then it had to reinstate the construction because the Legislature slapped limits on the number of such bans cities could invoke. The city still lacks sufficient police and fire protection because of the growth explosion that is still underway.

City governance is no walk in the park. In Princeton, Texas — a place I am proud to call home — such governance seems to be getting dangerously close to impossible.

local news

City manager search slogs on

Princeton’s search for a city manager is continuing at a snail’s pace, which could mean one of two things.

The city is taking its time searching for just the right man or woman to lead the City Hall staff … or it doesn’t have a clue on how to proceed. Which option do you choose?

The Princeton Herald reported this week that the city is offering little information on the search. They’ll back to us, city officials told the newspaper. C’mon, gang. Get busy, will ya?

Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr. said he’s happy with the job being done by interim City Manager Jeff Jones, who replaced Mike Mashburn in December after Mashburn resigned. Mashburn had been on the job just shy of two years. Jones served formerly as city manager in Southlake.

So, what does Jones’s performance mean? Does he now emerge as a favorite to get the permanent job as Princeton’s chief municipal executive?

The city, in my view, made a mess of the process when it hired Mashburn. He emerged from the shadows after seemingly clandestine interviews with then-Mayor Brianna Chacon. The mayor introduced Mashburn to the City Council in an executive session and — presto! — the council hired him on the spot. The council took no time to ask him questions, to inquire closely about his background or ask him to jump through a couple of hoops to prove he would be the right man for the job.

Chacon boasted about the “transparent” process that occurred. Baloney!

Then came questions about Mashburn’s decision to live outside the city. It seems to me that a chief executive who is going to recommend the tax burden he proposes for the city’s residents should have to share in the burden he or she is asking others to bear.

The city council needs to do a much better job of seeking candidates to run the nation’s fastest-growing city. Three months have passed since Mashburn called it quits. Yes, we have an interim manager. And, yes, the mayor likes the job he’s doing. What about the rest of the council? Are they on board with this fellow, too?

My own preference would be for the council to collect as many applications as possible, winnow them down to a list of finalists. Say, about four individuals. Then they should tell us the names of the finalists, bring them to the city, meet in public, let interested residents meet them, question them and then make a decision.

The Princeton City Council makes one hiring decision. The city manager reports directly to the council. A city on the move deserves a city manager who is committed to this community. Get it right, council members!

local news

Get busy, Princeton

Princeton, Texas, is hurtling head first into municipal adulthood … but it appears to have little vision of what it wants to become or how it intends to get there.

The city manager and his top assistant quit in December. The manager was on the job for less than two years. Now he’s gone on to pursue “other interests,” which is one way of saying he left without a clear idea of where he will end up.

A long-awaited and much-hyped commercial project on the corner of Beauchamp Boulevard and US Highway 380 has yet to show any signs of life. The city appears to be up to its armpits in litigation over the construction of apartment complexes and a new residential development along Longneck Road.

Ask anyone who lives near Princeton about my city and you get a curious look of befuddlement, amusement and even a bit of sorrow over what residents here are having to endure. City Hall is not a well-oiled, fully functional, machine that runs with all cylinders firing the way they’re supposed to.

My wife and I moved here in February 2019 hoping to be on the cutting edge of a population explosion that is destined to lead the city to greatness. Well, greatness remains a distant dream.

Eugene Escobar defeated Brianna Chacon for the mayor’s seat pledging a more “transparent” government. I think he’s trying. Chacon didn’t deliver much transparency when she engineered the hiring of the city manager who lasted a month short of two years on the job.

I am ready for the city to start showing signs of actual maturity. I am ready for City Hall to act as if the folks who run our local government can extinguish the last flames of confusion and get down to the task of providing services efficently for a city of 40,000 residents (give or take).

A new year has dawned. I welcome 2026. I am going to remain optimistic, but with an abundance of caution.

local news

City needs careful search for new manager

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

Complex defies logic

Suppose someone had placed a loaded pistol to my noggin, cocked the hammer and told me to predict the future of a long-abandoned 360-unit partially built apartment complex in Princeton, Texas.

I would have said, under duress, that it would be knocked down, the rubble scraped up and the site turned iinto a park.

Silly me. The City Council instead decided to give the developer some grace and told him to finish the job.

So, the Princeton Luxury Apartment complex is being built again on U.S. Highway 380 just east of the Wal-Mart store.

Let me be clear. I still question the wisdom of granting the permit years ago to proceed with this complex, given the growth occurring in Princeton and the incredible strain on traffic that this complex is going to bring to an already-stressed traffic thoroughfare. I heard about the pending project immediately after my wife and I moved to Princeton. My first reaction was muted, but then I grew to wonder: What was the City Council thinking?

The contractor and the developer got into a snit about three years ago. The contractor walked off the job, leaving it about 30%-ish complete. It sat there vacant, only turning into more of an eyesore with each passing season of inclement weather.

Then, something of a miracle happened. The developer was able to find a contractor to finish the task. Three buildings, though, were knocked down because they were beyond redemption.

The site, though, is humming once again with construction through the winter wind chills.

I’ve noted already that a city’s progress occasionally brings some pain along the way. Princeton is one such city that is a work in progress. Its populaton far exceeds the 17,027 Census figure on the signs entering Princeton. City Council has enacted a building ban on residential developments at least until this summer.

The apartment complex in question is going to open about the time work begins to widen U.S. 380, turning the highway into the last place on Earth you want to be during morning and evening rush hours.

Princeton’s progress is proceeding. I only hope now that the apartment complex, once it’s finished, will add another jewel to the growing city’s crown.

local news

City manager residence at issue

1 Comment

City managers are responsible for a lot of things emanating from City Hall … such as taxes that they propose for city residents to pay for municipal services.

It always has struck me that the individual who proposes a specific tax burden for residents in their city should have to shoulder part of that burden himself or herself.

Here in Princeton, where I have lived for six years, that’s not the case. The city hired a young man, Mike Mashburn, as its city manager in 2024. He signed a hefty contract, then was given an extension and a raise shortly afteward.

He took the job without having to move to Princeton. The city charter, approved in 2023, doesn’t require that the city’s chief executive officer live inside city’s limits. Mashburn hasn’t made the move. A group of Princeton residents, though, want to amend the city charter to make in-city residency a requirement of City Hall’s top dog.

I have two thoughts on this idea. My first thought is that the City Council that sent the charter to a vote of residents should have written such a requirement into the document. I find it unconscionable that the city manager doesn’t share the burden he proposes for others.

My second thought is that since Mashburn is under contract he could sue the city for breaching that agreement if the cåharter amendment passes. Moreover … he well could win that lawsuit, which could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in a settlement.

The mayor who engineered Mashburn’s hiring lost her re-election bid late in 2024. Brianna Chacon interviewed Mashburn and then presented him to the City Council, which then — after meeting him for the first time in closed session — voted unanimously to hire him.

The bottom line from my vantage point is that the City Council did not perform its due diligence by insisting that the city manager live in the city where he would work each day.

As for City Manager Mike Mashburn, he should sell his house and move here … pronto!

economic news, local news

Princeton does the inevitable

Princeton’s City Council had no choice but to do what it did Monday night by extending the building moratorium it had placed on new single-family dwelling and apartment construction.

It voted to extend its four-month building ban another six months.

So, let’s see. That means it will be 10 months before the city could start issuing building permits on those types of dwellings. This is just me, but my gut tells me another extension could be in the deck of cards that council members would want to play.

Princeton’s population continues to explode, But ,.. wait! The city needs more police officers, more firefighters, more medical emergency personnel, better streets, more electric utilities, more natural gas lines.

Moreover, the city needs much more commercial development, which isn’t part of the public financing obligation associated with infrastructure development. That commercial development is on the verge of become a reality.

A Princeton resident told CBS News Texas Channel 11 last night that folks here have to go to places such as McKinney and Allen for entertainment or to just purchase needed goods and commodities.

Princeton has developed an ocean of single-family rooftops. That’s fine, but the strain on new residents’ tax obligation is more than many of the newbies would care to absorb.

The city has some catching-up to do and I’m not sure six months extra time is enough.

local news

New mayor pledges ‘transparency’

Stop me if you’ve heard this before … a new politician promises to bring transparency to a government he wants to lead, but then somehow falls short of delivering fully on the pledge.

Princeton’s new mayor, Eugene Escobar Jr., has said he wants to improve transparency at City Hall. OK, fine. The person he defeated in the December runoff, Mayor Brianna Chacon, made the same promise back when she first was elected to the office.

To my admittedly feeble eyes, Chacon fell a bit short of delivering the goods. I am going to cite the city’s hiring of Mike Mashburn as its city manager in early 2024. Chacon called it a “transparent” process … but it wasn’t.

I was covering the City Council meeting the night Mashburn got the nod. A lot of the run-up process caught me by surprise. Transparent? No.

Chacon had interviewed Mashburn, who was an assistant city manager in Farmers Branch. She was the primary interviewer. Chacon said she brought in some “key” department heads to talk to the young man.

Then, on the night of the council meeting, she introduced Mashburn to the council members. They were meeting him for the first time in executive — or closed — session. After visiting with the fellow for about an hour, they voted unanimously to hire him. Council then reconvened the open session and affirmed the decision with a unanimous vote.

I submit that Mashburn’s hiring was not a transparent process. It was shrouded in secrecy. If the new mayor is intent on improving transparency to city government, he can start with opening up the way the city hires its key management personnel.

The city manager is the only person the council hires. The manager is in charge of hiring everyone else. However, the mayor presides over the city government and he or she can set the transparency tone simply by insisting that these processes be conducted in full public view.

Princeton opened its new municipal complex touting its many windows as a symbol of transparency. Perhaps the new mayor can deliver on the symbolism.

Uncategorized

Where must city manager live?

It’s pretty cool to have sources who tell you things that you can check out with a simple internet search … such as what happened this very day.

A snitch told me that the Princeton city manager is not required to live in the city where he or she administers public policy. My eyes widened — or so I was told by another person in the room.

I blurted out “What? The city’s top administrator isn’t required per the city charter to live in Princeton, Texas?” My friend/snitch said, “That’s right.”

Wow! I couldn’t stop thinking about that jewel of information as we talked about other matters. So, what did I do when I got back to Princeton, where I live? I looked up the Princeton City Charter on the city’s website. I scoured through it and found the chapter and verses related to the city manager.

Section 5.04 states: It shall be the duty of the City Manager to submit an annual budget not later than thirty (30) days prior to the end of the current fiscal year to the City Council for its review, consideration and revision. 

You know what that means, right? It means the city manager must recommend how much of our tax money we must pay to fund the annual budget. Yet the manager isn’t required to share our pain as we are forced to pay it.

The current city manager is a young man named Mike Mashburn, who came to Princeton from Farmers Branch. The City Council hired him immediately after meeting him for the first time just this year. It then gave him a five-figure pay increase in base salary just a few weeks after hiring a fellow who hadn’t done anything yet.

And yet, nowhere in the City Charter, which Princeton voters endorsed just this past year, does it stipulate any residency requirements for the city manager.

I long have believed that cities should require chief administrators to live in the communities they serve., Those administrators, such as city managers, also should require their top deputies and other key departments heads — whom they hire — to do the same.

Police chiefs, fire chiefs, financial officers — and the city manager — should bear the burden that city councils demand of those of us who pay the bills. Hey … fair is fair!