The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

City Hall will be closed this month on Monday, February 21st in observance of Presidents' Day. When I was in school (way back in ancient times!) we observed February 12 as President Lincoln's Birthday and February 22 as President Washington's Birthday. I guess they consolidated them so we would only have one holiday in the month. Either way, it's probably good for us to remember these two and all the other chief executives for their contributions to our country and our citizens. Through their leadership and foresight, we have become the greatest country on the planet. That's something we should all celebrate.

This must be the time for transitions. Here at City Hall we've had a couple of folks move on and others come in. Ricky Waldrep, one of our long-time employees, retired on Monday, January 31st. Ricky worked in our Utility department with steadfast dedication for 20 years to provide necessary services to all our citizens. We want to acknowledge and thank him for his service to our City and wish Ricky and his wife Charlotte all the best in a well-deserved retirement.

As I talked about last month, our long-time City Manager, Jerry Jones was retiring on January 14th after 21 years of service to the people of the City and a total of 51 years of service in municipal work. We marked that day with a reception in his honor at City Hall. If you missed his retirement party, you missed a few stories that he may not have wanted to get out, but we told them anyway. I hope we sent him out in style. We will miss having him around and having his counsel on all matters concerning the City.

On Tuesday, February 1st we welcomed our new City Manager. We stole Brent Walker from the City of Dalhart, Texas up in the Panhandle. I think the temperature was 11 degrees the morning Brent left Dalhart, so I don't know how much of it was us stealing him and how much it was him being a willing hostage. (SHHHHH........! Don't tell him about our summer weather; let him find out on his own. Otherwise, he might want to rethink his decision.)

During his tenure in Dalhart, Brent was Assistant City Manager for them the past 4 years where he was involved in day-to-day activities of all City businesses including Public Works, Finance, Administration, and Public Safety. Before that Brent was the Finance Director there in Dalhart for 5 years where he oversaw Administration, IT, and HR departments as well as managing the $12 million City budget. He brings a lot of varied and valuable experience to the job, and we're looking forward to working with him as our City moves forward.

We're going to hold a "meet and greet" reception for him here at City Hall on Monday, February 7th from 2 to 4 pm. Please stop by, introduce yourself, have a few refreshments, and welcome our new City Manager.

That's all for this month. If you get a minute, please stop by and visit with our new City Manager on Monday and welcome him to "Bridge City, the Gateway to Lake Sabine."