Georgetown City Manager David Morgan speaks with residents during a Georgetown Chamber of Commerce meet and greet held June 10.[/caption]
After working for the city of Richardson, Texas, for more than 17 years, David Morgan took the reins of the city of Georgetown as city manager on May 4.
Prior to coming to Georgetown, Morgan served in several roles in Richardson’s city manager’s office, including administrative assistant, assistant to the city manager, assistant city manager of community services and deputy city manager.
During his time as deputy city manager he served as the chief operating officer for the city with a focus on finance and economic development, he said.
Morgan received his undergraduate degree from Austin College and went on to earn a Masters in Public Administration from Texas Tech University.
City Council approved his contract during a March 24 City Council meeting. Morgan was one of four finalists for the position after a national search with 71 applications from candidates in 25 states, according to a city news release. Strategic Government Resources completed the search.
He took over the position from Jim Briggs, who had served as interim city manager since November 2014 after the council approved a separation agreement with former City Manager Paul Brandenburg on Nov. 3.
What brought you to Georgetown?
I think it’s the right place at the right time. Georgetown is an amazing community with incredible assets. I also think it’s an interesting time in the history of Georgetown, and I’m excited to be a part of it based on the decisions that have been made previously to set the community to where it is today and the things we enjoy.
I think everyone recognizes that it’s not a question of whether Georgetown will grow, it’s a question of how Georgetown will grow. I think those are exciting conversations and exciting things to be a part of.
What have you identified as the top issues in Georgetown ?
I think it’s dealing with the impacts of growth. The biggest thing on that is transportation. Already we’ve had a huge sign of support form the community when they passed the transportation bond. It will be important as the voters made that commitment that the city follow through on that and be able to make important transportation investments … to help us deal with growth and manage mobility. I think it’s also important to be able to focus on economic development. I think in this current economic development cycle there are great opportunities for not only continued growth on the residential side, but there are also opportunities for commercial development.
Another issue that I know the council has been very focused on, and now it’s more the implementation, is the [Emergency Medical Services] initiative and being able to continue to work with the county and be prepared to have an integrated fire response program to provide a full scope of emergency services.
What upcoming projects excite you the most?
One of the things that is exciting, not only for me personally, but I think for staff as well as for the rest of the community is the work that we will be doing on the Downtown West project, which is the renovation of the old library to become the new City Hall and being able to consolidate services all in one spot. I think it will be improved customer service and also continues to reinforce the growth in downtown. It creates opportunities for great public spaces that I think will be enjoyed for years to come.
What is your role as city manager?
I serve as the chief executive officer for the city organization. My job is to work with [City] Council to understand their collective goals and directives for the city, and then for me to work with staff to align the city organization to be able to accomplish those things. That’s also done by engaging within the city organization and by engaging and partnering in the community as well. So it is an important part of my job to develop relationships with other partners, including the school district, the county, the St. David’s Georgetown Hospital, Southwestern University, the faith-based community and a number of other nonprofits out there, to figure out ways we can partner together on common goals to make our community an outstanding community that we are all proud to call home.
How do you plan to get involved in the community?
[I’ve already started having] regular meetings with key leaders in the community … to establish relationships where there are not only regular times we can sit down and figure out ways to partner, plan and work on community issues but also know each other well enough that it just takes an idea and making a phone call [to get things done]. There is an initiative through the [Georgetown Chamber of Commerce] to sit down and meet with various partners in a round table setting to talk about things we are seeing in the community.
Georgetown City Manager David Morgan speaks with residents during a Georgetown Chamber of Commerce meet and greet held June 10.[/caption]
After working for the city of Richardson, Texas, for more than 17 years, David Morgan took the reins of the city of Georgetown as city manager on May 4.
Prior to coming to Georgetown, Morgan served in several roles in Richardson’s city manager’s office, including administrative assistant, assistant to the city manager, assistant city manager of community services and deputy city manager.
During his time as deputy city manager he served as the chief operating officer for the city with a focus on finance and economic development, he said.
Morgan received his undergraduate degree from Austin College and went on to earn a Masters in Public Administration from Texas Tech University.
City Council approved his contract during a March 24 City Council meeting. Morgan was one of four finalists for the position after a national search with 71 applications from candidates in 25 states, according to a city news release. Strategic Government Resources completed the search.
He took over the position from Jim Briggs, who had served as interim city manager since November 2014 after the council approved a separation agreement with former City Manager Paul Brandenburg on Nov. 3.
What brought you to Georgetown?
I think it’s the right place at the right time. Georgetown is an amazing community with incredible assets. I also think it’s an interesting time in the history of Georgetown, and I’m excited to be a part of it based on the decisions that have been made previously to set the community to where it is today and the things we enjoy.
I think everyone recognizes that it’s not a question of whether Georgetown will grow, it’s a question of how Georgetown will grow. I think those are exciting conversations and exciting things to be a part of.
What have you identified as the top issues in Georgetown ?
I think it’s dealing with the impacts of growth. The biggest thing on that is transportation. Already we’ve had a huge sign of support form the community when they passed the transportation bond. It will be important as the voters made that commitment that the city follow through on that and be able to make important transportation investments … to help us deal with growth and manage mobility. I think it’s also important to be able to focus on economic development. I think in this current economic development cycle there are great opportunities for not only continued growth on the residential side, but there are also opportunities for commercial development.
Another issue that I know the council has been very focused on, and now it’s more the implementation, is the [Emergency Medical Services] initiative and being able to continue to work with the county and be prepared to have an integrated fire response program to provide a full scope of emergency services.
What upcoming projects excite you the most?
One of the things that is exciting, not only for me personally, but I think for staff as well as for the rest of the community is the work that we will be doing on the Downtown West project, which is the renovation of the old library to become the new City Hall and being able to consolidate services all in one spot. I think it will be improved customer service and also continues to reinforce the growth in downtown. It creates opportunities for great public spaces that I think will be enjoyed for years to come.
What is your role as city manager?
I serve as the chief executive officer for the city organization. My job is to work with [City] Council to understand their collective goals and directives for the city, and then for me to work with staff to align the city organization to be able to accomplish those things. That’s also done by engaging within the city organization and by engaging and partnering in the community as well. So it is an important part of my job to develop relationships with other partners, including the school district, the county, the St. David’s Georgetown Hospital, Southwestern University, the faith-based community and a number of other nonprofits out there, to figure out ways we can partner together on common goals to make our community an outstanding community that we are all proud to call home.
How do you plan to get involved in the community?
[I’ve already started having] regular meetings with key leaders in the community … to establish relationships where there are not only regular times we can sit down and figure out ways to partner, plan and work on community issues but also know each other well enough that it just takes an idea and making a phone call [to get things done]. There is an initiative through the [Georgetown Chamber of Commerce] to sit down and meet with various partners in a round table setting to talk about things we are seeing in the community.
