Fisher offered Gatesville city manager post

James Fisher

The Gatesville Messenger
By Jeff Osborne Senior writer & editor
March 31, 2023

James Fisher has been selected as Gatesville's new city manager and has more than 30 years of experience in city administration to draw upon as he embarks on the new role.

Fisher rose to the top of the list of more than 30 candidates — and four finalists — during a special meeting of the Gatesville City Council on March 23 in which each of the four finalists was interviewed.

Although he had not yet officially accepted the position, Fisher was in town March 29 to meet with a real estate agent to look at housing options in Gatesville.

Fisher is currently serving as interim city manager of Silverton, a Texas Panhandle community of about 630 residents. The town is 79 miles southeast of Amarillo and about 86 miles northeast of Lubbock.

During a meet and greet session for the city manager finalists on March 23 in the City Council Chamber, Fisher said Gatesville's central location is one of the things that attracted him to the job opportunity, adding that he has children and grandchildren in the Dallas area.

He said he is looking forward to getting to know the community and the city staff, and that he knows the city has a comprehensive plan adopted by the Council to help guide its future decisions.

Fisher said he is not only looking forward to working with city leaders, but also reaching out to Coryell County and Gatesville Independent School District representatives.

His first priority, he said, will be to listen to people and gather information to work in partnership for the community's best interests.

"I am excited for this opportunity," he said.

Gatesville Mayor Gary Chumley said most of the details of the contract had been ironed out prior to a meeting with Fisher on March 29, when he hoped to finalize an agreement.

Strategic Government Resources, which also helped with the selection of Gatesville Police Chief Brad Hunt earlier this year, helped lead the selection process with Mike Halsema, the city's finance and human resources director.

Before working in Silverton, Fisher had served in city management in Brenham, Forney, Murphy, Bee Cave, Muleshoe, Castroville and Port Aransas.

He has a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas and a bachelor's degree in business administration-management from West Texas A&M University. He earned designation as a Texas Certified Public Manager from Texas State University.

Fisher posted the following on his Linked In account:

"With 30-plus years dedicated to municipal leadership, including the Texas cities of Bee Cave, Murphy, Forney, and Brenham, Texas I believe that public service is a privilege and that the trust given to me should never be taken for granted. Throughout my career I have built a reputation of collaboration among community leaders for my ability to seek out and ask the hard questions, listen to understand, then make the most effective decisions for the success of the community and the stability of the city moving forward.

"My expertise in managing expenses and expectations has been of immense value during this time of COVID-19, to inspire every leader working with a budget built on certain expectations, but now dissolved into unknowns without any certainties. Hard decisions, affecting the expected outcome of services and how they are delivered, required a calmness to ensure employees I was doing everything conceivable to save their jobs, while also taking care of our community.

"With major strengths in strategic planning and visioning, leading by empowerment, decisive management, team building, and servant leadership I have supported my employees in reaching beyond their potential to achieve results they doubted they ever could. This encompassed professional promotions, college degrees, and strengthening of their workplace and personal relationships.

"A past recipient of the Texas City Management Association (TCMA) Administrator of the Year Award, my career achievement is complemented with a Master of Public Affairs (MPA), a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), and graduation as a Certified Public Manager and ICMA Senior Executive. Outside the workplace, I enjoy discovering Texas with my wife, visiting our daughter in Dallas, traveling to see our son who is a U.S. Marine, and serving my church and community."