By Samantha Smith and Moses Leos III
After a six year stint as Buda's assistant city manager, Brian LaBorde will head north next month after he was hired as the new city manager in Keene, Tex.
Keene Mayor James Chaplin announced Wednesday LaBorde was joining the Keene City Staff and is set to start as the city manager Oct. 3, according to a report from the Cleburne Times Review.
LaBorde was selected out of a list of 29 initial applicants, which was narrowed down to four people, then two finalists, Chaplin said to the Times Review
LaBorde, who was hired as Assistant City Manager in March 2010 according to the City of Buda website, travels to Keene, which is approximately 28 miles south of Ft. Worth. Keene, located in Johnson County, has an estimated population of 6,181, according to 2015 U.S. Cenus Bureau figures.
Buda Mayor Todd Ruge said the news of LaBorde's hire was "wonderful."
"Brian is very talented. That's wonderful news for him," Ruge said. "It's always sad when we lose someone, but what a wonderful opportunity and adventure."
Buda City Manager Kenneth Williams said LaBorde informed him on Wednesday that he had been hired as Keene's city manager. He said LaBorde's final day as Buda assistant city manager is Sept. 28.
LaBorde had "kind of put out feelers for a while," Williams said. LaBorde was selected roughly three years ago as a finalist for the Elgin city manager position, which he said Laborde considered, but ultimately turned down.
"My first thought was congratulations to him. He's worked hard to get to that point," Williams said. "He's put on a lot of projects here. He has a good background."
LaBorde had worked his career toward that goal, taking on positions such as the past Region 7 president of the Texas City Manager's Association, Williams said.
He also passed along advice of gaining experience in many diverse areas of city government to LaBorde.
"You have to have a diverse knowledge to know all areas of a city," Williams said. "That's what I talked to him about over the years."
Williams said the city would take some "moves internally to fill that," but also have the position "posted as soon as possible and start searching for another assistant city manager." Buda will work on some items and reassign some tasks prior to LaBorde's departure.
The process to hire a new assistant city manger is expected to go "smoothly," Williams said, as the city has talked about succession planning. Williams said he thinks the city can handle the search internally with their human resources department.
The search could allow the city to possibly explore a reorganization of city staff, Williams said.
While he said there is an "idea of what we're going to do with it," Williams said nothing has been decided on a possible reorganization, as discussions with city council have not occurred.
"It's a possibility," Williams said. "This gives us an opportunity to explore some other options."
