At a special meeting May 26, Missouri City City Council did not extend the deadline for executive search firm Baker Tilly to perform a community survey as part of the city’s hunt for a new city manager.

This action by council means that a community survey will not be performed unless council decides to bring the item up for reconsideration at a later date, according to Missouri City Director of Communications Stacie Walker.

The results of the survey would have helped council identify issues and priorities to consider when selecting the next city manager.

Previously, City Council voted in favor of Baker Tilly conducting a web-based survey of Missouri City residents and returning results by May 31.

However, at the time of the May 26 meeting, Missouri City and Baker Tilly had not finalized their contract. Because the contract was not in place, Baker Tilly had not begun the community survey and, according to city staff present at the May 26 meeting, might not have enough time to do so by the May 31 date.



The motion to extend the deadline for the survey to June 30 was put forward by Mayor Pro Tem Chris Preston.

“I would like to extend the date because I feel like it is a part of what we're trying to get accomplished,” Preston said. “This is something that needs to be done. I think that I'm of the opinion we can work through these things that seemingly may be outstanding—or things that need to be clarified, rather—but I would like to go ahead and extend the date.”

In a 4-3 split vote, with Council Members Vashaundra Edwards and Cheryl Sterling, along with Preston and Ford, voting in favor, and Council Members Jeffrey Boney, Floyd Emery and Anthony Maroulis voting against, the motion failed.

Because the action would have overridden a previous vote by council, a supermajority was needed for the motion to pass.


Shannon Pleasant, Missouri City’s purchasing and risk manager, advised members of council to wait to take action until a contract with Baker Tilly is secured.

“In my professional opinion, no, we do not have an executed contract yet,” Pleasant said. “So I wouldn't suggest moving forward with anything until we have an executed contract.”

At the end of the meeting, City Attorney E. Joyce Iyamu asked if any member would like to put the item on the June 1 meeting agenda for reconsideration. No council member expressed public interest in doing so.

Missouri City City Council will meet for both a special and regular council meeting June 1.