The City of Brookshire is planning to create a city administrator position, Position 5 Alderman Jeremiah Hill said.

The council members discussed the position in an executive session at their June 30 meeting. Hill said they voted unanimously to have City Attorney Justin Pruitt and his law firm, Olson & Olson, prepare the needed paperwork for council consideration at a future meeting.

If approved by the council, Hill said the city charter would be amended to incorporate the position into the upcoming budget, which goes into effect in September.

“The biggest thing we’re looking for this position is, number one, someone to create better record retention policies, better employee policies,” Hill said. “One of the issues we’ve seen or we’ve been dealt with as we been told things like minutes. Our policy net right now requires that the minutes of every meeting are available within a week. But we’re being told by our city secretary that that’s just not going to happen. Well, that’s not in good service to the public. The public should be able to get on their and disseminate and read and see what your city council and your mayor have been doing.”

Hill said other cities have a city manager, but cities the size of Brookshire have a city administrator. Hill said the city council appoints a manager or administrator. The person holding that position serves as chief administrator, financial officer, city records management officer and city public information officer.

“I noticed before being elected, especially once elected, that we have a huge leadership vacuum and one of the concerns that there was so much overlap and what our city secretary does and the ability to effectively perform all of those tasks,” Hill said. “And so, for instance, we as city councilmembers have asked for certain information. There’s a huge delay in getting that sometimes. There are several things that there is just that leadership gap there.”

If the position becomes available in September as hoped, Hill said the city wanted ample time to find the right person for the job.

“We’re going to be looking for someone with a minimum of five years’ experience in this position,” Hill said. “They’re going to have to be certified. There also going to have to have a degree. So, we’re not looking for someone for whom this is not going to be their first day on the job.”

To find that candidate, Hill said, the city expects to advertise through the Texas Municipal League, along with other statewide websites.

“It’s not going to be just a local news (advertisement) because of the type of candidate we’re looking for,” Hill said. “It’s going to be more expansive—statewide and further potentially than just your local newspaper, per se.”

Hill said the city administrator, when hired, would have input in the city’s search for a permanent police chief. He said the council, which previously appointed Sgt. Clyde Miller as acting chief, has now voted to make him the interim chief. Hill said the chief would report to the city administrator under the new set up.

“What we’ve seen in Brookshire is there’s not a lot of radical changes based on the mayor,” Hill said. “You have a really aggressive mayor, or a really passive mayor, or a really engaged mayor, or kind of a take-it-as-you-come type style or however you want to call it. We’re really needing to set up set Brookshire up for success and have consistency, regardless of who the mayor or the council is, even. And this is one way we can establish that.”

Hill said the city administrator system has worked well in Katy.

“It doesn’t mean it’s not without its drawbacks or flaws, but we really need somebody who can come in and really bring our professional level up,” Hill said. “Be looking at the long-range projects of our street traffic ordinances, developments. We need somebody that sole focus is not who’s the mayor, not who’s on city council, but what’s best for the city of Brookshire five years, 10 years, 20 years from now.”

Pattison looking to remodel its city hall

The Pattison City Council is looking to renovate its city hall, 3410 1^st St., and has asked a Houston architectural firm to come back with some ideas for making it happen.

Noel Compean, principal of Calyx Design Studio, presented the council with three basic concepts at the council’s July 21 meeting. The concepts were built around completely gutting the building’s interior, gutting the interior extensively and gutting the interior slightly.

The council chose the first proposal, in which the interior was completely gutted. Under this plan, the council chamber would be moved from the left to the right side of the building, with 30 seats for citizens to attend meetings. The mayor and council would sit at a half-circle credenza.

Presently, the chamber is on the left side of the building and council members sit around two large tables pressed together.

The plan calls for two offices, a daily operations center, a records storage room, a conference room, a break area, a wellness room, a janitor’s room and two restrooms.

Mayor Joe Garcia said the city last year acquired the building from Waller County.