By Andy Sevilla.
North Richland Hills Assistant City Manager Jared Miller will fill the San Marcos city manager position once the city’s present top administrator leaves on Jan. 3, after serving three years in that post.
San Marcos city officials made the announcement Friday identifying Miller as the lone finalist for the position.Kyle Assistant City Manager James Earp was one of five finalists earlier in the process.
“The last two days have been filled with public meet and greets, department head briefings, and interviews which concluded yesterday. I learned last night that I was not named the lone finalist (for the San Marcos city manager position),” Earp wrote to the Kyle council in a Dec. 11 email. “I wanted to thank you for your support and for allowing me the chance to explore this opportunity.”
And though the new job could have provided Earp with a more than $50,000 salary bump and the chance to manage the fastest growing city in America with a population of more than 50,000, according to the U.S. Census, Earp said in a telephone interview Monday that he was “honored” for the opportunity, but “excited” to continue his work in Kyle.
Earp said he has several projects in the works, including a city emergency management plan, new responsibilities as head of community development and, as the general economic conditions in Kyle continue to improve, he said development is exploding in the growing city.
“It looks like 2014 is going to be a really good year for our community,” he said.
For now, Earp said he is not looking to leave Kyle – the city where he has served as assistant city manager for eight years. He said he is not actively looking for other employment, though ultimately, his desire is to be a city manager; it just so happened that the opportunity arose in the city next door.
Miller hails from North Richland Hills, a city of 65,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, where he has served as assistant city manager since 2007. Before that, he was the city manager for Snyder and Crosbyton, serving two years in each city.
“I am honored to have been chosen to work with such an excellent community, City Council and staff,” Miller said in a statement. “My family and I are excited and eager to start this new chapter in our lives and become, in every way possible, part of the community of San Marcos.”
Miller received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Abilene Christian University in 1992, a Master of Public Administration from Texas Tech in 2001 and worked on a doctorate in Political Science at Texas Tech, according to a San Marcos news release.
Miller and Earp, along with Karen Daly, assistant city manager for Sugar Land, Charles Ewings, assistant city manager for Longview, and Tansy Hayward, assistant city manager for Tacoma, made the short list after being narrowed down from a pool of 54 applicants.
The top five finalists met San Marcos residents in a “meet and greet” event on Dec. 9, and were interviewed by the council in executive session on Dec. 10.
The San Marcos council decided on the lone finalist for the position on Dec. 10, but kept the selection quiet while an employment contract was negotiated.
City officials announced Miller as the lone finalist on Dec. 13. Miller will receive a salary of $172,000, will lead a team of 603 employees and administer an annual budget of more than $166 million.
