Brookshire, like all the other area municipalities, is trying to manage its explosive population growth and the development that comes with it. One way it hopes to do this is to have a full-time city administrator who would report to the mayor and council while supervising city departments.

In September, the Brookshire City Council appointed Mike Barnes to serve in that role on a part-time, interim basis. His six-month contract ends in March.

“Since there’s never been one, I’m kind of setting my own plate,” Barnes said. “I see my role, and hope the council sees it, is to put together some systems.”

Barnes said he hopes the systems will enable a focus on public, or customer, service throughout all the city departments.

“When I went to graduate school, systems, MBO (management by objective) was the thing,” Barnes said. “I’m still a firm believer in that.”

Barnes earned his college degrees in Indiana and worked in other states before settling in Texas. Barnes today lives in unincorporated Blanco County, near the towns of Blanco and Johnson City, but commutes to Brookshire for three days a week.

“I work everywhere,” Barnes said. “I spend four to five days a week traveling.”

Barnes was formerly with the Brookshire Economic Development Council, so he has an advantage in that he knows most of the city’s leadership. He said he has worked with Mayor Darrell Branch and his wife, Position 3 Alderwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Kim Branch, for years.

He knows Position 5 Alderman Jeremiah Hill and Position 4 Alderwoman Amanda Neuendorf—both elected to the council earlier this year—through his involvement with the economic development council. Barnes said he has worked with Position 2 Alderman Lyndon Stamps, who formerly was on the economic development council board.

Barnes said he is working with Position 1 Alderwoman Monique Taylor, but admitted he doesn’t yet have a long-standing working relationship with her as he does with the others.

Barnes said he is positive about what he sees in Brookshire. At the same time, the community is changing.

“We are no longer this rural, agrarian community,” Barnes said. “We’re totally changing the paradigm. Developers are knocking on the door daily. We have to be prepared. We have to recognize this, and we have to put systems in place.”

Making the changes can be challenging, but Barnes hopes when the time comes to transition to a new administrator, the transition won’t be. Besides working on a customer service focus for the city, Barnes said he has another picture of success in his mind.

“At the end of my time, when I lateral this off and the new administrator says, this will be an easy transition and the council will feel the same way,” Barnes said.