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In March, Jennifer May was appointed Pearland assistant city manager.
May joins Pearland from the city of Sugar Land, where she served in communications, economic development and managerial roles for nearly two decades.
May sat down with Community Impact to introduce herself and talk about the city’s strategic goals and how it is navigating recent leadership changes.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Share a little bit about yourself, both professional and personal.
I'm just really excited to be in this role and be a part of the Pearland team. This is an incredible organization with a lot of momentum to do some really great things, so it's a privilege to get to serve the community. Professionally, I do come with a nearly two-decade career in local government. Side note, I grew up in Brazoria County, down the road in Lake Jackson ... so after going to Arkansas for my undergrad and then at the [University of Kansas] for graduate school, I started full time with the city of Sugar Land, and my nearly 20 years in full-time service has been ... with the city of Sugar Land.
... My expertise, [which] just organically developed, is really the intersection of finance, budgeting, economic development and strategic planning and a little bit of community planning. That's really the lens through which I look at a lot of what we do, which is part of why I'm so excited to work and ... apply that to the operational side of things.
Personally, I unintentionally did life a little bit in reverse. [I] got married about four years ago. We have a 2 1/2-year-old and a 9-month-old, so our lives are what I like to call “beautifully chaotic” ... but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It really kind of reinforces this sense of calling to ... serve at the local level and to really work to make the world a better place, one neighborhood or one community at a time.
What specifically about Pearland made you interested in serving in the community?
I love public service. I love democracy. I love cities. Cities are not just municipalities; they're living, breathing places that have the ability to uniquely and in really special ways make the lives of those who live here, who work here, who do business here, better.
... Pearland is an extremely reputable city. It’s been recognized. It's complex. There are immense opportunities to continue to build on the history of Pearland and its recognition as a premier suburb within the Houston metro. Like every other suburb, there are challenges and challenges excite me, so really having the opportunity to give back to another city, both in terms of helping to dream big and push the boundaries of what’s possible for us to achieve as we deliver strategic plans and priorities.
What are your top priorities?
My top priority is to get to know the people here to really learn. Learn people, learn plans, learn policies, learn what the Pearland way of doing things is. ... I'm spending a lot of time talking with people, asking questions, reading strategies and master plans.
The portfolio that all of the departments that I’ll be working with [includes] the operational side of things, so engineering and public works, Pearland water, IT, and parks and rec. So, you’ll see priorities in accordance with this strategic plan, really focused on safe and sustainable infrastructure, capital improvement planning, everything from drainage and streets to water and wastewater. My role will be to stay at that high level on helping implement the strategic plan through the operational departments.
The city has recently had turnover in key leadership positions. How will you guide your team as the city navigates those transitions?
Municipal government is a lot like life, where change is about one of your only constants, and there are a lot of opportunities for change. ... I spent a lot more time thinking about just the overall pace and scale of disruptions in the world that we have no real control over, but really impact the work we do and also impact the way that residents and businesses expect to interact with us on a customer service standpoint.
I think change is inevitable, but I do think that the council-manager form of government is really kind of uniquely equipped and positioned to withstand change. It really gives us an opportunity to be disciplined and at the same time continue to be innovative and opportunistic when it comes to what that strategic plan is.
My role as assistant city manager is to work really closely with the city manager and the deputy city manager and assistant to make sure that we're empowering and expanding the capacity of the organization across all of the employees to be able to deliver on those strategic plans. ... I think our form of government is positioned to make sure that ... if we're doing our job leading and working together to stay focused on strategic plans and work with the governing body, whoever is elected, that we’ll stay on track and achieve really great things.
Is there anything else that you'd like to share with readers in Pearland?
Just how grateful I am for this opportunity. I grew up in Brazoria County, down the road, so I've driven through Pearland all of my life, but I'm getting to see so much more of it and from so many different perspectives now, and that's incredible. There's an incredible organization here. There's an incredible community, and I meant it when I said it, that it's a privilege to get to serve. I look forward to continuing to learn about what Pearland wants to see for their future and to make sure that I'm doing everything that I can on our side to dream big alongside the community and really push to achieve things that are greater than we ever thought this little community could achieve.
