The city of San Marcos has named Bert Lumbreras as the lone finalist for its city manager position. Lumbreras currently works as the assistant city manager for community services at the city of Austin.

Mayor John Thomaides said San Marcos City Council will vote on extending a formal offer to Lumbreras at its meeting Tuesday night. Thomaides said Lumbreras’ management experience stuck out to City Council.

Lumbreras appears well positioned to help the city deal with issues the it may be face in the next five to 10 years, Thomaides said.

Bert Lumbreras“He has a pretty intimate knowledge of some of the mistakes that Austin has made over the years,” Thomaides said. “Some of the things that have led up to some of the negative issues that occur in Austin—like traffic and things like that— he’ll be providing input and guidance onto the council so we don’t repeat those mistakes.

“We’re very much San Marcos and not Austin. Everyone acknowledged that. Certainly there are great parts of all the cities around us that we would like to emulate. There are also lessons and things that we’d prefer to avoid.”

Thomaides said council and staff will work during the next few months to bring Lumbreras up to speed on the issues facing the city, such as the fiscal year 2017-18 budget and Code SMTX, the city’s new land development code.

Thomaides said the city received 55 applications for the position, and City Council narrowed that list to 15 candidates and then to five. The five finalists met with members of the community, city staff and City Council members throughout last week and over the weekend.

“The process was really a model of I think how thorough you can be and how thorough you should be in working through and choosing a city manager and the importance of that role as it relates to the future of the city,” Thomaides said.

Lumbreras has 35 years of local government experience and has served as an assistant city manager for the city of Austin since 2006. He previously served as assistant city manager for the city of Waco and as city manager in the cities of Uvalde, Alamo, Floresville and Dilley.

Lumbreras holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Southwest Texas State University and has earned the designation of credentialed manager from the International City/County Management Association.