Originally from Austin, Sara Countryman is Montgomery’s new mayor and has lived here for five years. Her term runs from May 5, 2018-May 2020.

“It is truly God’s country, a little slice of heaven,” Countryman said in an interview over lunch at The Skinny Pig in downtown Montgomery. “Montgomery has a lot of resources: water, the lake, good water infrastructure, open land for people to build commerce and retail. In Montgomery, we’ve got unique dining, shopping, and downtown is our jewel—there’s so much history.”

What is your professional background?
I have been in IT [information technology], but majority sales and management is what I do. I do have a full-time job right now. It’s balancing both of them, which I have been able to do so far. We have all the right people in the right places. I have a strong City Council behind me. If I can just get some of the balls rolling and get everyone to execute, I don’t need to sit at City Hall all day.

Are you planning to make any changes right off the bat?
I’ve already made changes. I found out while campaigning that a part of the community paid [utility bills] in cash, and the city wasn’t giving them any change. The day I was sworn in, that changed—we now have a till.
Since becoming mayor, we’re holding an ice cream social in July and implementing a Cinema under the Stars after the Sip and Stroll, which happens once a month on the third Thursday. It’s free; we’ll take donations, have movies, push that whole family atmosphere and drive people to come into downtown and spend some time.

You are the mayor until 2020. What are your long-term plans for your time in office?
Branding, marketing, emphasizing the birthplace of the Texas flag. I want that to be widely known statewide. I want to see visitors, tourism and traffic step up and grow. Based on my research, we are the second capital of Texas for wedding venues—weddings no longer are, you get married where you’re from. It’s location. I want to see unique hotels come to the area, really get our tourism built up and put ourselves on the center stage in Texas—let everybody know who we are.
A big priority is getting the comprehensive master plan. Those plans are underway right now.
Even more, I’d like to see an amphitheater where kids can put on plays in the summertime or have bands come. We have quite a few wineries around town, and I want to capitalize on that as well. To be a destination for those interested in wine and become a strong contender on that radar would be wonderful.

What’s something that impresses you right now about Montgomery?
Our antiques festival has a big draw and so does our wine festival, and we’d love to see the Texas Flag Festival become a staple as well. Every one of the downtown business owners is committed to making Montgomery strong and thriving. We’re all pulling the apple cart in the same direction, getting people in town, more commerce, people spending and enjoying our town, eating, drinking, shopping. Becoming that destination where folks want to spend weekends, or come spend the day. A lot of love and passion is here. With a lot of folks, I know they’re as invested and appreciate the charm and history and a lot of us share in the same vision for Montgomery’s future, so now we just have to execute.

What do you envision for the future of Montgomery?
There are a lot more new folks coming in, and with that learning, what’s going on. They’ve got ideas, and I think we’re going to see some new blood coming in to volunteer and join the city and get behind what the city’s doing. I have such a special place in my heart for it; it is so charming and unique, but there’s progress coming. We need to make sure with that progress in this era of change, we do it in a smart fashion, and we need to make sure we’re very mindful in what we do—not to erase history, to preserve it—but make smart, progressive decisions for the city moving forward. We don’t want to become a big-box city; we want to keep our charm and uniqueness. But we need to step it up and do it on center stage: we need to evangelize we’re the hometown of the Texas flag.