DiPiazza named city administrator of the year

Uvalde city manager Vince DiPiazza

Uvalde Leader-News
Julye Keeble, Staff writer
June 18, 2023

The Texas City Management Association recently recognized Uvalde city manager Vince DiPiazza as administrator of the year.

DiPiazza attended the 2023 TCMA Annual Conference Awards luncheon held June 9 at the Marriott Dallas Allen Hotel and Convention Center in Allen. 

He said after a 37-year career, it was difficult to come to terms with being recognized for his response to such a horrific event as the May 24 Robb Elementary School shooting.

He expressed support to the community of Allen, where on May 6, 2023, a mass shooter with an AR-15 style rifle killed eight people, including a 3-year-old boy, in about four minutes at Allen Premium Outlets mall. Seven others were injured. The 33-year-old male attacker was killed by an Allen police officer.

“We act as if this is inevitable, and we pat ourselves on the back when we keep the body count to single digits. This is insane. We have to figure out how to stop this kind of thing from happening,” DiPiazza said of mass shootings.

He said when he received a call in February notifying him of the award, “My reaction was not particularly joyful or excited.”

DiPiazza said he, city staff and elected officials remain committed to assisting the Robb Elementary School families.

“This awful, soul crushing tragedy that occurred in Uvalde has dominated the life of my community for the last year. Words cannot express what we feel for the families of the victims whose lives were torn apart – and the survivors and their families, the trauma … will probably be with them the rest of their lives,” DiPiazza said.

“We’re not going to forget. My city organization is committed to do all that it can to help them heal.”

DiPiazza expressed appreciation for city staff, as well as for supportive messages from fellow administrators.

The award lauds a city management professional who has made significant contributions to the field of local government management in the past 18 months.

DiPiazza has been city manager for eight years. The Uvalde City Council hired him in December of 2014, and he started work in February of 2015.

It took three tries for Uvalde to hire DiPiazza, having interviewed him for the position in 1993 and 1994.

Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr. said DiPiazza is a hard-working, diligent and meticulous manager, and the mayor was pleased to hear TCMA was honoring him.

“We were very fortunate. I sat in on all the interviews, and Vince just kept rising to the top. I think we were very fortunate at the time, when we got Vince,” McLaughlin said.

“Vince does a good job, he keeps a steady ship. His staff like him, they get a lot of stuff done for him, going above and beyond what they need to do. A lot of that comes from the leadership. If your leader is willing to do things, then your personnel will often buckle down and do it too.”

Once here, DiPiazza has maintained an open-door policy he held in his previous management position, inviting the public to visit him and speak about issues of concern.

“One of the first things we talked about was that he would be accessible to the citizens. And he has been very adamant about keeping an open door policy,” McLaughlin said.

 DiPiazza and his wife, Suzanne, have three children. He is also musically inclined, often playing the viola at El Progreso Memorial Library and Uvalde Grand Opera House events as a member of a string quartet.

He previously served as city manager in Dumas from 2001 to 2015. A city of approximately 15,000, Dumas is located in the Texas Panhandle, about 500 miles from Uvalde. Prior to that, he served as assistant city manager in Garden City, Kansas, from October of 1996 to November of 2001.

While working in Dumas, starting in January of 2002, he worked as a part-time government instructor at Amarillo College. 

He is a member of the Texas City Management Association and the International City Management Association. 

His education includes a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Texas and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas Tech University.

The Texas City Management Association comprises local government professionals. Per their website, it is, “dedicated to promoting the highest standards of governance, service, leadership, ethics, and education while embracing individual and regional diversity for the benefit of our membership and the cities of Texas.”

keeble@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335