MIDLAND, Texas — The City of Midland have been looking for a new city manager ever since Robert Patrick, the previous city manager, retired in April.
They may have found the person for the job.
After over 100 people applied for the city manager position, the city of Midland has named Tommy Gonzalez as their final candidate.
Gonzalez has previous experience as a city manager, as he has held the job in the cities of Irving and El Paso.
This past experience helped him in the interviewing process and made him a top candidate.
"He was appealing to our council because of his experience in economic development, in increased customer service in good financial structures in the cities he has served in previously," said Midland Mayor Lori Blong. "So he really became the top candidate based on those metrics”
If he does get the position, he will be a busy man.
Midland city managers are tasked with overseeing many of the departments within the city government.
“They oversee all of the city departments for customer service, development, engineering, which includes our parks department and our road development and our fire and police," Blong said. "So many of the main departments of our community are run by the city manager’s office."
Meanwhile, having Gonzalez installed in the position would give the city more opportunities to grow and flourish.
“The opportunity that we have to potentially work with Tommy Gonzalez allows us to have an organized structured method to increase customer service, to care well for taxpayer dollars, but then also to look for opportunities to grow and expand what we are offering in the city of Midland,” Blong said.
One thing the city took into account when looking for a new city manager was the community survey they sent to the people of Midland.
It was apparent that the people of Midland wanted someone who knows a thing or two about West Texas.
A Lubbock native, Gonzalez spent 2014 to 2023 as El Paso's city manager, so he knows a few things about West Texas as well.
Meanwhile, a final decision and vote regarding his candidacy will be held at the July 11th City Council meeting. The public is invited to come and make public comment regarding Gonzalez and the city manager position.