What are some of your priorities for 2023?
Implementation of our capital improvements plan, or CIP, is top priority.
What challenges has Bee Cave faced with staffing this year?
I had more of an issue with recruiting than retention. The only open positions we have left are for the police department. We have three open PD positions. It’s just incredibly difficult right now. There’s a lot of demand. There seems to be a lot of turnover in law enforcement, so [those are] the most difficult positions we have to fill.
What are some of the best practices for working with the mayor and City Council members?
I think my role with elected officials, and with staff, is to make their service as easy as humanly possible—providing a buffer between my staff and council, my staff and the public, and the public and council. I think the way I get good people to serve, either in retention of staff or in the interest of effective leadership, the No. 1 way I can affect that is by making it easy to serve.
What do you foresee as some of Bee Cave’s biggest challenges?
Implementation of the CIP is largely affected by the nationwide economy and the state economy. Interest rates are higher than they were when we adopted the CIP. Construction costs are higher than when we contemplated and adopted the CIP. I think that’s a significant challenge. It’s also a challenge to ensure the public is adequately informed and also adequately involved in the process. So, if I had to pick two things, one is the economic piece of it and the other piece is ensuring that the public is informed every step of the way.
What major projects will Bee Cave be focusing on this year?
[In addition to CIP], the two buildings, the new library and new police department, are significant; and then the implementation of the thoroughfare and connectivity plans; also, building out the rest of the pedestrian and shared-use paths as well as some of those connector streets between Bee Cave Parkway and Hwy. 71 to provide alternate routes for local trips.
As you have been talking to the community about the new Hamilton Pool Road extension, what have been the biggest challenges in communicating with Bee Cave residents?
My biggest issue on communication is that everyone seeks out information differently. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the turnout at the neighborhood meetings. It’s been quite rewarding because of how grateful people are that we’re going to them. I met with a neighborhood group on [a] Sunday, and one of the gentlemen brought up that, had it not been on [a] Sunday, he couldn’t have made it because he works so late. He was interested in what was going on, but he couldn’t always get the information. We have residents [who] don’t use social media, and we have residents [who] didn’t know they could sign up for our email list. Our communication strategy will probably be something that involves a little bit of everything. I foresee us going directly to residents a lot more frequently in the future.
What exciting things should Bee Cave citizens anticipate from the city this year?
The Books and Bees Festival coming up in April; the Magnolia Theatre production of “Beauty and the Beast” this summer; and the ice rink, we hope will come back next year. We funded and we will participate with the 2023 Special Olympics contestants for the winter games. Our big job Fair in April or May that helps our businesses in the summer. Also, the Bee Cave Library puts on events all year.
What are your long-term goals for the city?
My goal when I started was to make Bee Cave the best place in Texas to raise a family. If you look at the CIP and you really pay attention to it, and you look at the Central Park improvements, and you look at the nature center on Brown [property] and you look at the quality of life, which things like these additional roads would improve, it’s taken me four years to get to a point that I could implement it. I think I want to keep that goal in front of mind. When I interviewed with council, one of the comments that I made was, looking at population growth numbers, I told City Council, I would expect that you’re going to have a bunch of day cares coming in for permits here real soon, because it looks like the population is getting younger. Over the first four years I’ve been here, we’ve had day cares pop up all over town. And so the population was a leading indicator for the investment that people were going to make in child care because we have [more] families. As those kids age, I think I want to keep offering things like the ice rink, the Books and Bees Festival and Magnolia Theatre. I’m not joking when I say this really is going to be the best place in Texas to raise your family. We’ve got great schools; it’s safe. We’ve got a community, and there’s a handful of things that the city can do at a relatively low barrier to entry. I think we have a responsibility to the residents that are here, and the ones that are coming, to maintain that quality of life; so my goal hasn’t really changed, because I’m just now getting an opportunity to put it in place.
What do you enjoy about your position?
I get to be two different people in one role. On the one hand, I can dress up like the Grinch on Dec. 3, and then the following day, I can stand in front of a group of residents and talk about the importance of building roads for the remaining 10,000 residents. I get to have a lot of fun with what I’m doing. I have support from council and the majority of the residents to go out and do the right thing as well.
