Midland City Hall
Reporter-Telegram
Midland Reporter-Telegram
Stewart Doreen, MRT.com/Midland Reporter-Telegram
“It seems that the entire council is united in wanting to move the city to another level.”
Those are the words of Midland’s city manager finalist Tommy Gonzalez, a man with city leadership experience in Lubbock, Harlingen, Dallas, Irving and El Paso and a list of headlines long enough to worry Midlanders about if city leaders are making an appropriate selection.
But for at least three members of the Midland City Council, that answer will be an enthusiastic yes. Mayor Lori Blong and at-large members Robin Poole and Dan Corrales penned an op-ed praising the accomplishments of their choice, who is scheduled to be voted on at Tuesday’s council meeting.
High risk, high reward? Not really, according to that opinion article announcing the choice to become the City of Midland’s 15th city manager.
They point to a proven track record that can help a city, which in the past has struggled to keep up with infrastructure, housing, planning, staffing and parks development.
“Midland is a great match for me,” Gonzalez told the Reporter-Telegram. “Hopefully, I am a match for them with respect to all the things they are looking to develop and grow. I've done those things in other cities. … I'm very excited about what is in store for Midland.”
Timing might be everything
Gonzalez’s arrival in Midland makes sense for three reasons.
First, Robert Patrick retired earlier this year. His last Midland City Council meeting was in April. He succeeded Courtney Sharp, whose run as city manager from 2008-20 was the longest in Midland going back to 1987.
Second, Gonzalez is without a city leadership position. On Feb. 28, a divided El Paso City Council voted to terminate his employment without cause. He subsequently pocketed a severance agreement around $900,000.
Third, Gonzalez has two sons taking part in the MBA law program at Texas Tech University. Gonzalez said multiple times that he and his wife delayed having children until they were in their mid-30s to focus on their careers.
“Quite frankly, this is a godsend for us -- to be able to be an hour and a half away from our sons,” Gonzalez said. “That's a Sunday afternoon drive to be with them whenever we need to, on any occasion, and we're very family oriented.”
It’s about strategic planning
What will Gonzalez’s wealth of experience bring to Midland? First of all, the ability to create a strategic plan. He said Midland isn’t alone in its lacking of a plan that accomplishes some of the following. He listed them one by one.
- Did we make our city more vibrant?
- Did we create safer and more beautiful neighborhoods?
- Did we develop exceptional recreational, cultural and educational opportunities?
- Did we do that by being a better, stronger, higher-performing organization where customer service was at the forefront.
“I think a lot of cities don't have a good strategic plan,” Gonzalez said. “Everybody has a comprehensive plan, which is a planning document for development. But that's not a strategic plan. And so, I think that's what I've heard loud and clear from the council – that, 20 years from now, they want to be able to look back and say what did we do?
“And the fact that I've done this for a long period of time, I've had the opportunity to really climb mountains and have challenges that you're going to have climbing that mountain.”
The opinion article from Blong, Poole and Corrales referred to a “strong framework for three major needs in our city,” specifically:
- Broad economic development, “In El Paso alone, Mr. Gonzalez delivered well over a billion dollars in total transportation and community projects, saved the community more than $210 million, and secured $257 million in new project dollars. He has become an expert in Texas, in working with state, federal and private funding sources to optimize community projects.”
- Downtown Revitalization. They mentioned a funding concept he used in both Irving and El Paso “that provides tax relief, quality of life/place, and economic development opportunities that 72 Texas cities now benefit from. … The Border City (El Paso) has now developed a new hotel in downtown, redeveloped a once boarded-up historic hotel that lay dormant for decades and re-invested in yet another historic hotel. Today, El Paso has more than 1,000 rooms available for convention style offerings they didn’t have before.”
- Excellent Customer Service. Gonzalez’sleadership style, Lean Six Sigma expertise and established metrics for staff workflow, accountability and success has reduced the time needed to issue a building permit from 3 ½ months to 3 ½ days, he said. It also helped City of El Paso staff increase the number of potholes fixed from 12,000 a year to 76,000.
“The city manager should be listening first and foremost,” Gonzalez said, “to the community, which is fleshed out through the council, because the council comes from the community, and listen to the council, and then be able to formulate a plan from the council priorities and their concerns -- what they want for their community. And (the city manager) should also listen to the department heads, to the staff, because the people that we should listen to the most in this position are those people that are doing the work for the people. You want to listen to the voice of the customer, and the voice of the people delivering the service to the customer. Because a lot of times those aren't in alignment.”
The elephant in the room
Gonzalez doesn’t avoid questions about the severance payments or other headlines that come up during a Google search or are being talked about on social media across Midland.
Concerned residents share information from websites in El Paso and beyond that include information about El Paso’s total bonded indebtedness ($3.983 billion at the end of fiscal year 2022, according to the Texas Bond Review Board) and the use of certificates of obligation or non-voter approved debt (El Paso city government racked up over $851 million. … El Paso has the second highest outstanding CO debt of any city in the entire state, according to the El Paso Matters website in March 2023).
When asked about the chatter, Gonzalez said all a person has to do is ask and “then I answer with the truth. And answer with what actually occurred, not what was written.”
He mentioned the $900,000 severance (which came from one year’s salary -- $442,000 -- and included six months of unused vacation and six months of sick leave, according to El Paso Matters). Gonzalez said that severance was there as it gave the El Paso City Council options to move forward in a different direction without any cause.
“They stipulated that in the contract. That's what I say to people,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez also said that severances were a fraction of the dollars brought into a community while he was city manager. He mentioned specifically the $3 million the city of El Paso recovered after performing audits on hotels and motels. He also mentioned the funding concept mentioned earlier in both Irving and El Paso.
“It was an idea that I came up with that people thought was a bad idea,” Gonzalez said. “That turned out to be a great idea, which now 72 cities take advantage of. … So that rebate is millions upon millions of dollars. I'm told it's going to be over $45 million (for El Paso). So that more than compensates for anything I was paid, which is a fraction of that.”
Council members referenced Gonzalez’ budget management in their opinion article.
“Under his leadership, El Paso won numerous state and national recognitions and executed a complete financial turnaround, eliminating a $7.8 million deficit, more than tripling the fund balance from $26 million in 2014 to the current amount of $163 million. He also assembled a team that achieved zero audit findings for the past seven consecutive years – an important point, as he walked into an external audit that identified 21 findings.”
Should Gonzalez become city manager, he will be part of the negotiations of a $120 million to $140 million downtown hotel project with a group that includes Franklin Mountain Investments of El Paso. Franklin Mountain happens to already be one of the largest property owners in Midland and has experience working on development deals with Gonzalez in El Paso.
The El Paso Times reported the City of El Paso provided Paul Foster, Franklin Mountain’s CEO, with 2,313 acres in a “land swap” for the “now-dead Great Wolf Lodge deal” in northeast El Paso.
The investment group Midland Downtown Renaissance, LP, which includes Franklin Mountain Investments, has asked for Hotel Occupancy Tax rebates, sales tax rebates, property tax rebates over a long period, cash incentives (which could range from $15 million to $30 million) and additional grants, rebates and incentives for a structured parking garage).
Results-oriented
Along the way, reporting indicates Gonzalez has not only held positions in various cities around Texas, but he also was considered for positions in Frisco and Tampa, Florida. Say what you want about the man, he has been in high demand.
He says that he’s come a long way from growing up poor in Lubbock, playing quarterback at Eastern New Mexico University and retiring from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel. He talked about being a West Texan and knowing that Midlanders will have expectations that if he says he will do something he better “dad-gum” do it.
“I know you should never over-promise and you need to listen a lot,” Gonzalez said. “And so, I'm gonna go in there in Midland and listen, a great deal. … The city of Midland is an amazing community. I feel very fortunate, to hopefully become a part of it.”
The agenda item calls for the council to appoint “Tomas Gonzalez” as the new city manager effective July 31. The motion also authorizes Blong to execute, on behalf of the City of Midland, an employment agreement with Gonzalez.
The pay range for the position, according to Blong is $245,000 to $367,000. Patrick’s salary was $251,473.51, according to the city.
The Midland City Council meeting is set to begin at 10 a.m. in Council Chamber at City Hall, 300 N. Loraine St.
Midland city managers
A.J. Gates, 1928-31
R.C. Hoppe, 1947-47
Fred Hogan, 1947-48
H.A. Thomason, 1948-49
W.H. Oswalt, 1949-54
Mel Orman, 1954-58
Alex Bul, 1958-64
James W. Brown, 1964-87
Fred Poe, 1987-93
Mike McGregor, 1993-99
Rick Menchaca, 2000-07
Tommy Hudson, 2007-08
Courtney Sharp, 2008-20
Robert Patrick 2021-23
Source: Texas Municipal League