David Esquivel previously served as assistant city manager in Tomball until he was appointed city manager in July.
Rogers said she grew up all over Texas, living in cities such as Temple, Waco, Corpus Christi and Amarillo. Rogers attended Texas A&M University for her undergraduate degree before studying at Indiana University at Bloomington for graduate school.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Why did you choose to come to Tomball?
I was looking to take the next step in my career, but I was very focused on finding a community that I wanted to be in. I’ve spent a lot of time moving around, and I’m at the point in my life where I wanted to find a home. I wanted to find a place where my professional and personal goals and the things I wanted in my life could coexist, so I was really excited when the Tomball position opened up.
How is Tomball similar to prior cities you worked for?
The city of Denton is 140,000 people and growing. Tomball is much smaller, but the growth pattern is something that is very similar. Tomball is also growing very fast, and that’s very similar to the challenges we had in Denton with making sure that we’re keeping up with infrastructure, managing growth, and making sure that we preserve that small downtown core and the historic elements and the community characteristics that are so important.
How have you been involved in the city so far?
I’ve tried to jump right in and listen and learn and figure out what’s going on [by] just spending time talking to all the different departments and going out in the field with various people and just asking them what’s going on and what are their challenges. I went to German Fest; [I’m] going to chamber events and ... community events. I’m really excited about going to the farmers market. ... That’s what I wanted in the community I’m working for: to have that personal and professional connection.
What are you looking forward to in the new role?
Working collaboratively with David [Esquivel] to try and realize the City Council’s vision and help keep Tomball on a current path. This is a great community to be in, and it’s our responsibility to keep that.
