One month after Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke , City Council鈥檚 plan for filling his role with a new leader remains unclear.
Cooke, Fort Worth鈥檚 longest-tenured city manager, led the city through a budget crisis into an . He intends to retire in February after a decade of holding the city鈥檚 most influential role.
City leaders and municipal government experts told the Report that whoever takes the helm must be prepared to lead the city through a new era of growth and development while finding ways to unite the city鈥檚 neighborhoods.
鈥淲hen you look at the issues facing large cities throughout the nation, we all have the same problem,鈥� Gyna Bivens, the only remaining City Council member who hired Cooke in 2014, told the Report. 鈥淓verybody is challenged with infrastructure, managing growth and, for us in Fort Worth, making people feel 鈥榓 part of.鈥� You鈥檙e going to have to get someone who recognizes the uniqueness of Fort Worth.鈥�
So far, the council has not spoken publicly on plans to hire a new city manager but has discussed the matter during executive session meetings, which are closed to the public.
A city spokesperson said via email Aug. 16 that city leadership has 鈥渘o information to share鈥� on the process to hire a new city manager. The city鈥檚 communications office did not return an additional request for comment Aug. 28.
Filling the city鈥檚 most influential position
Despite the role鈥檚 influence, many Fort Worth residents aren鈥檛 aware of the city manager鈥檚 power. Brian Hamel, political science assistant professor at the University of North Texas, described the city manager role as the 鈥淐EO of the city,鈥� responsible for its day-to-day management and administration.
鈥淐ity Council鈥檚 job is to write policies and create policies, but the job of the city manager is to take whatever those policies may be and make sure that they鈥檙e being implemented and followed,鈥� Hamel said.
Beyond enforcing municipal policies, the city manager oversees the city鈥檚 $2.6 billion budget and approximately 8,100 employees. Hamel said the role operates as a 鈥渂ehind-the-scenes shepherd of the city鈥� 鈥� whoever holds it won鈥檛 interact with the public to the extent that the mayor and council does, but they鈥檒l make sure the city operates smoothly.
Mayor Mattie Parker and the rest of council are responsible for hiring the city manager. Council member Alan Blaylock said the task is one of the most important that the council will make as a group.
鈥淚t will likely be one of the most consequential decisions we make as a council, and we鈥檝e made a lot of big decisions over the last year,鈥� Blaylock said. 鈥淲e have to get it right.鈥�
Blaylock, Bivens, and council member Chris Nettles said they want to conduct a national search to fill the vacancy, and they hope to see the position filled by February to ensure a smooth transition when Cooke steps down. The Report contacted all council members for their thoughts on the search.
Nettles noted that the council has hired city attorneys, the city secretary and city auditor during his tenure on the dais, which began in 2021. For each of those roles, the city conducted a national search for candidates.
鈥淭o hire a city manager who will manage and move Fort Worth forward, the only option should be a national search,鈥� Nettles said.
Cooke assumed the role in June 2014 following a national search. He came to Fort Worth from North Carolina, where he served more than 13 years as county manager and four years as deputy county manager in Wake County.
In January, Cooke hired , a role that is new but not unique to Fort Worth. As the city already has five assistant city managers, some have speculated that the move was meant to test McDaniel for the role of city manager.
McDaniel joined Fort Worth鈥檚 city manager office after spending nearly three years as a self-employed consultant, working with Fort Worth on projects like its revamped budget and planning office, FWLab, and the . Before that, he held roles as city manager of Kerrville and Tyler as well as other high-level positions in Dallas, Corpus Christi, Woodway and Lake Jackson.
Hamel said a national search would ensure the most diverse applicant pool but added that hiring from within the city鈥檚 current ranks has its benefits as well. Someone already familiar with the city, as well as its policies and constituents, may have less of a learning curve in the new role, he said.
He also noted that Cooke鈥檚 planned retirement comes only three months before City Council faces election in May 2025. Although the role of city manager isn鈥檛 often a key driver in voters鈥� minds, he said, council members may want to play it safe by hiring McDaniel.
鈥淵ou might imagine that they don鈥檛 want to wade into any difficult issues through this search,鈥� Hamel said. 鈥淪o maybe that does mean Mark McDaniel is the likely choice. It would sort of not be rocking the boat at all.鈥�
Council: Growth, public safety are priorities for next leader
Ron Holifield, CEO for the Keller-based firm Strategic Government Resources, said the process for hiring the city manager starts with understanding council members鈥� priorities.
鈥淓very search is different, and so we always start with really trying to understand where the city council is and what their desires are,鈥� Holifield said.
Bivens, Blaylock and Nettles listed the city鈥檚 growth as a chief concern for the next decade in Fort Worth. Blaylock said the city鈥檚 growing pains are evident in its infrastructure, public safety and development.
The issues that Cooke faced when he assumed the role in 2014, mainly the city鈥檚 failing pension system, are not the same issues that the new city manager will face. Blaylock said he wants to hire someone who can tackle those challenges head on.
鈥淚 think David has been very successful in leading the city and managing the city through several challenges,鈥� Blaylock said. 鈥淚 want to see somebody that has a history, that has the ability to say, 鈥楬ey, here are tough challenges that I鈥檝e solved鈥� and a record of doing it as well as David did.鈥�
Although he acknowledged Cooke鈥檚 success in managing the city, Nettles said he wants to hire someone who may have a different perspective or work style.
鈥淭his is an urban city. This is not 鈥楥owtown Fort Worth鈥� where people walk around with boots and cowboy hats,鈥� Nettles said. 鈥淭his is a very urban city with a different view of life, so we need to act accordingly and make sure that we take care of the inner city and not so much just our wealthy neighborhoods.鈥�
He said one of his primary goals for the new city manager is to find someone with a strong commitment to revitalizing the city鈥檚 more neglected neighborhoods. Nettles praised Cooke鈥檚 work to keep the tax rate low throughout his tenure, but he said the new city manager must find ways to improve residents鈥� quality of life through measures like street maintenance and neighborhood infrastructure improvements.
Once the council can articulate its vision for the city manager role, it can move forward with seeking out and interviewing candidates. In its entirety, the hiring process for a city manager typically takes about six months, Holifield said.
Before getting hired as deputy city manager, McDaniel worked as the senior vice president for Strategic Government Resources for nearly three years. Holifield said city leadership has not asked the firm to conduct the city manager search, but the company 鈥渨ould definitely be interested鈥� in the opportunity.
Fort Worth will have no shortage of qualified candidates vying for the job, said Morris Matson, who served in the city manager role for six months in 1978 and still lives in Fort Worth. The city鈥檚 status as the 12th largest in the nation and its diversity of amenities will be sure to lure candidates, he said, but its history of successful city management could likely be another appealing factor.
Holifield added that the council itself is also likely to appeal to potential candidates. It鈥檚 not often that councils in large cities work so well together, he said, so Fort Worth stands out in that regard.
鈥淭hey disagree on stuff 鈥� but they鈥檙e united about the stuff that matters,鈥� Holifield said. 鈥淭hey all really and truly care about Fort Worth and are passionate about the future of Fort Worth, even when they disagree on specific details. That is the ideal balance you want 鈥� you want them united but not always unanimous.鈥�
Matson said a key role of the new city manager will be to juggle the many personalities around the council dais and find a way to make their sometimes competing visions a reality. Although the council does , they鈥檝e .
鈥淚n addition to being smart and understanding management and understanding how the city operates, they鈥檝e got to be very, very smooth in handling a bunch of egos called the City Council members,鈥� Matson said. 鈥淚t takes a very skilled person.鈥�
Holifield echoed Matson鈥檚 sentiment, saying the city manager must be able to collaborate effectively with both the council and the thousands of city employees they鈥檒l manage.
鈥淎 big mistake that gets made is hiring a resume instead of a person,鈥� Holifield said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to go in and look at resumes and go, 鈥極h, these people are highly qualified,鈥� but qualifications are actually kind of the beginning point 鈥� not the ending point.鈥�
Public input in the hiring process
Jason Grant, advocacy director for the International City/County Management Association, said the council should strive to keep the public informed on their steps throughout the hiring process.
Some cities will host public forums to solicit community input from residents and others won鈥檛, but there isn鈥檛 a standard best practice for public engagement, Grant said. However, he cautioned the council against making big decisions without engaging their constituents.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not always engagement in terms of having the public say who to hire, but it鈥檚 having the public understand what鈥檚 the role of a city manager,鈥� Grant said. 鈥淲hy is the city manager important? What鈥檚 our process? So the public knows, 鈥極K, this is what we鈥檙e doing and why.鈥欌��
Nettles said he plans to be as open and transparent as possible throughout the search for a new city manager.
鈥淭his is a huge decision we have to make, and I want the citizens to know what I know,鈥� Nettles said. 鈥淚 want them to know that I鈥檓 being transparent as soon as we have new info.鈥�
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org or .
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