After an extensive, seven-month-long search, the City Council last night unanimously approved the hiring of Charles Jackson as Missouri City’s ninth City Manager. In the 7 to 0 vote on Tuesday, Nov. 30, Council authorized Mayor Robin Elackatt to negotiate Jackson’s contract, which would go into effect on Dec. 20. Jackson most recently served as the City Manager of La Marque, Texas. Prior to that, he was City Manager for Pearsall, Texas, and County Manager for Luna County, New Mexico.
Jackson comes to the City with more than two decades of experience in city and county government. He has an established track record of predictable, proven performance in driving economic improvements, securing unprecedented growth, and capturing highly competitive and multimillion-dollar grants. Jackson is matter of fact about his penchant for “fixing what isn’t working, fostering vibrant economic growth, implementing innovative programs, and creating workplace cultures that become models of citizen service and support.”
Mayor Elackatt said Jackson is the person for the job, and he commended the City Council for dedicating their time to the selection process.
“I believe this will be something that’s right for the City of Missouri City,” said Mayor Elackatt. “But for me, the most important people to thank is this team—the Council. I feel like we knew what the stress was, we knew that we had to get this right, and we committed that time, committed to several meetings that we’ve had looking at this, individual meetings with GovHR (the executive recruiting firm), and of course going through the whole list of candidates. Getting it down to eight, which took two days, and then going through a community event, and then interviews with staff directors for a whole workday and then Council sitting down here today from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. This extensive process is what the community expected from their elected officials; this is what the community expected from their leadership and we were committed to keeping our word with the constituents. I’m excited to be a part of this step forward with the citizens, City Council, stakeholders and staff.”
City Councilmembers said they were thankful for a smooth process with a unanimous outcome.
Councilmember Vashaundra Edwards, At-Large Position #1, said: “I’m really happy about the process and how my colleagues and I took the time to engage the stakeholders and the community and everyone that was involved to make sure that it happened. I want to thank GovHR and our HR dept for making sure they did their due diligence.”
Councilmember Lynn Clouser, At-Large Position #2, said: “We had two very solid candidates and this was a very tough decision. Both individuals were very qualified, and I’m just so proud of all of us – the process; GovHR; Martin Russell, our HR director; and all of my colleagues. We put a lot of time into this, and we really wanted this process to be a transparent one where all stakeholders were involved. I’m very excited about this new beginning for us.”
Councilmember Cheryl Sterling, District A, said: “Certainly, I’d like to commend GovHR, and also Martin and your team for a wonderful job. I think engaging the community spoke volumes about Missouri City, so I’d just like to say thank you guys. The process went excellent. I just want to let you know, we appreciate you.”
Councilmember Jeffrey L. Boney, District B, said: “I want to say thank you to GovHR, Carmen Davis [vice president of GovHR], of course Martin Russell, HR, all of the department directors for participating in this process, as well as the community for coming out on Monday night. One of the things we wanted to do was make sure we collaboratively came together. We put in a lot of work, a lot of due diligence, kicked the tires . . . trying to get this right to help move Missouri City forward. We had two great candidates and a very, very tough decision for us to collaboratively come together on. But we were able to do that, and I’m excited to work with my colleagues and the new City Manager.”
Mayor Pro Tem and Councilmember Anthony Maroulis, District C, said: “A very sincere thank you to the directors, a sincere thank you to the community for being a part of this process. It is a new start. It’s a great, exciting start and I’m looking forward to the future of Missouri City with a wonderful Council, great directors and employees here.”
Councilmember Floyd Emery, District D, said: “I’d also like to give thanks to GovHR and to Martin and HR for pulling the whole process together. We came up with two great candidates. It was a difficult decision. One of the things I’m encouraged by is that we said we would bring in the staff and the community to be a part of the selection process, and we accomplished that. So I hope everyone will accept our selection and we can move Missouri City forward.”
On Monday night, Jackson was one of two finalists participating in a community Meet and Greet at the City Centre at Quail Valley, where Mayor Elackatt introduced them to citizens and stakeholders. The other finalist was Lionel Lyons, a former deputy city manager for Petersburg, Va. Jackson and Lyons were selected from a group of eight semifinalists, who were chosen from the pool of 70 candidates who submitted application packages for the City Manager position.
Jackson expressed gratitude after being appointed, saying: “I am both honored and humbled to have been selected as the ninth City Manager for the City of Missouri City. There is so much potential [here], and that starts with the people. I am so excited to get started and do my part to make Missouri City all that it can be!”
To see the vote and Council remarks, click this link: Watch MCTV Video.
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