Tommy Gonzalez
Midland Reporter-Telegram
Stewart Doreen, MRT.com/Midland Reporter-Telegram
The Midland City Council was unanimous in its support for Tommy Gonzalez as its next city manager.
The 7-0 vote showed the Midland City Council could come together when it needed to hire a chief executive.
“I think all seven of us on council really value our relationship with staff. And we really want the opportunity to work with people who know that they have our support,” Midland Mayor Lori Blong said after Tuesday’s meeting. “And so, as we're building out a team, we have five appointees that the city that city council directly hires, and we believe this is an opportunity for us to show unity of support around the people that we hire, and unity going forward.
“As we're making decisions, we do not always vote the same and we won't in the future. We will have disagreements, but I think in matters of personnel hires and high-profile personnel hires, particularly, it's been important to us to come to a decision that we can agree on.”
Gonzalez comes to the city of Midland from El Paso, where he served as city manager before being let go earlier this year. His record also included stops in Lubbock, Harlingen, Dallas and Irving and a list of headlines long enough to worry Midlanders about if city leaders are making an appropriate selection.
Council members talked about messages they received if Gonzalez was the right fit. On Tuesday, three people came to Council Chamber inside City Hall to state -- on the record -- their displeasure for the selection or the process.
But the council was unanimous in their approval for the lone finalist. They agreed on a contract that will pay a base salary of $350,000. Blong stated there won’t be a high-dollar severance package if things go sideways with Gonzalez. The contract limits a severance to one year’s salary if he is excused without cause and six months salary if he is excused with cause.
City leaders stated there were around 100 applicants and face-to-face interviews led to the selection of Gonzalez as the final candidate. They were unified in their vetting of Gonzalez prior to the unanimous vote.
At-large Councilmember Dan Corrales stated that the council had put a lot of thought into the decision and done its due diligence to do what is best for the city. He asked that the community “put its confidence in its elected officials that we have been doing our homework.”
District 2 representative John Norman stated that as elected officials, “we have constituents who elected us. They elected us for a reason.”
District 3 Councilman Jack Ladd added one can find information about city managers being fired in cities across the state and that the average time for a city manager in a particular city is four years. “It is a very political job. If (a city manager) is doing their job right, they are taking arrows for the city council and staff.”
At-large Councilwoman Robin Poole said a lot of work went into the decision and she stands by her vote, and Amy Stretcher-Burkes said she shared her concerns about the contract and severance package.
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