SWEENY— Outgoing City Manager Reese Cook’s successor has been found.

On Tuesday, the City Council extended an offer to Lindsay Koskiniemi, who had been serving as Assistant Director of Development Services for Angleton.

Koskiniemi has eight years of experience in local governments in Texas, Virginia and Arizona, and previously served two years in active duty with the Coast Guard.

She attributes her move to the government arena to her time in the service.

“I think that’s why I got into local government— because I needed that ‘service above self’ kind of environment and I seem to have found that in local government and stuck with it,” Koskiniemi said.

“In the city of Richwood, I was interim city manager for about 10 months, so I’ve had a taste of it before. I enjoyed it and wanted to get back into it,” she said.

Koskiniemi has had experience in different departments of city government like finance and capital projects, and that the wide breadth of her experience is helpful for the kind of big-picture planning that goes into being a city manager.

Koskiniemi’s name has been floating in the local government consciousness for some time now, and she has been in the mix for positions before the Sweeny job. She was a finalist for multiple city manager-type positions in the area.

“The process went through, I would assume, pretty normal channels,” she said of her Sweeny bid. “Sometime in the month of June, I was sent preliminary questions to answer for council to review. After reviewing the responses to my questions, they wanted to meet with me.

“When all is said and done, I did get council’s unanimous appointment on the fifth.”

Koskiniemi feels the vote is a sign of confidence in their choice.

“It’s always good to head into a situation knowing it was an unanimous decision,” she said.

Some of the things stressed by the council for her to do in the position include to continue with current goals and have availability for the residents of Sweeny. She also stressed council was looking for someone to continue to do things by the book.

“I actually have the entire Code of Ordinance printed and it will be like my bible,” Koskiniemi said with a chuckle. “Sometimes with staff turnover, there’s not really somebody keeping an eye on that moving target, so I’m going to be that eye.”

Cook is staying through the end of the month, which will give the two some time to make sure continuity is established in the position and she has a good idea of the needs for Sweeny. She notes they have worked together as government colleagues before.

“The goal is to absorb as much knowledge as I can from him,” Koskiniemi said. “I’ve spent some time with him over the last couple of weeks over the phone and in person, just learning the city, some of the projects, the facilities. He did give me a comprehensive tour of the wastewater treatment plant and other city facilities that are going to be of key interest in that position.”

Koskiniemi feels she does not need to rock the boat at this point, she said, but is mostly looking to continue Cook’s work and make sure those projects are completed as she starts.

However, there is one area Koskiniemi feels the need to address very quickly, she said.

“There’s some pretty high electric bills that I think people are pretty shocked by, so that’s one of the things that I’d really like to dig into once I get there,” Koskiniemi said.

Koskiniemi will have a year to move to the city of Sweeny, and she appreciates City Council’s flexibility on the matter as she has a husband and two children, ages 11 and 17.

“I was pretty transparent with the council that relocating my daughter during her senior year of high school was probably not the best move, and they were fortunately very understanding of that,” she said.

Her first day will be July 18 and she plans on “flying solo” after a week on the job with Cook.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’ve earned a Certified Public Manager credential and a couple of other credentials that I think marry up nicely with that. I’m a certified Government Finance Officer through the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas. I have some advanced degrees in public administration as well as accountancy,” Koskiniemi said.

“What Sweeny’s giving me is a shot. They’re giving me a chance. I’m going to give it all I’ve got.”