Thursday, May 16, 2024
After originally being told by some people that he wouldn't be able to become a city manager, Bill Parry is on the verge of retiring after eight years of service as Gatesville's city manager.
His tenure in office includes helping the city navigate through a time of greater focus on improving infrastructure such as streets and water/sewer lines, and also a commitment to building and retaining outstanding city staff. Parry is officially retiring on Feb. 28, but will stay in Gatesville as a consultant until a new city manager can fill his post.
Parry said he initially found resistance to the idea that he could be a city manager.
"When I was getting ready to retire from the Army, I was garrison commander at Fort Hood, which is as close to a city manager as you can get," Parry said. He said he asked around about how to make the transition to city manager from the Army.
"Back then, in 2004, cities usually hired city managers from within the organization," Parry said. "I was told at the age of 48 that I was too old to be a city manager because you had to work your way up through the ranks."
Parry instead took a job as executive director of the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance, a regional organization that works to promote the importance and sustainability of Fort Hood and the defense industry in Central Texas.
"One evening at a farewell dinner at Fort Hood, I was sitting across the table from David Byrom, who was Gatesville's mayor at the time. He mentioned they were looking for a city manager and he thought I'd be a good fit. I was offered the job in October 2014 with a start date of May 2015.
"It was already something I was interested in, I just wasn't sure exactly how to get into it. David Byrom broke down a lot of those roadblocks."
Although there was a learning curve, Parry's experiences as garrison commander helped him build a foundation toward a smooth transition.
"Some components of the job weren't hard at all to understand, and some required me to really dig in," he said. "I knew how to do a budget for a large organization but in the Army you're appropriated money by Congress, with some restrictions on how it is spent. With a city, you don't get an appropriation of money from the state in Texas. So you've got to see what the tax rate and water and sewer rates need to be to effectively serve the community.
"I needed to dive deep into Texas statutes for cities. Basically we're allowed to do anything that isn;t prohibited by the Constitution. I had to go through the city ordinances to make sure they were up to date and conformed to local government codes."
Parry said he has enjoyed "building a team and getting them focused on the objective of providing the best services we can to the community."
When Parry interviewed for the job, he said it was "clearly obvious that the city wanted a comprehensive plan for the future." The city was able to complete that in May 2020.
"That's usually a very expensive effort, but we were able to complete the task at no cost," he said. "This is something that will influence the direction of the community for the next 20 years."
Repairing and replacing outdated and suboptimal infrastructure has been one of the city's biggest challenges, a task that Parry, the City Council and other city staff members have worked hard to address, he said.
"Many of the water and sewer lines in the city are old — everything has a useful life and you've got to know what it is and decide what to do about that."
He said much of the work needed to resolve that concern has been put off, which has only delayed efforts and increased the cost of making needed repairs and replacing old infrastructure. Although it will take an extended amount of time, Parry said the city is focused on addressing those issues.
"The biggest challenge we're attempting to address is finding the right balance between funding what needs to be done and also keeping (water, sewer and tax rates) as low as possible," he said.
Improving the condition of streets is another priority, and this is best done in conjunction with replacing old water and sewer lines beneath those streets, Parry said.
"We have a list of streets where the road needs to be replaced and also areas to focus on preventive maintenance," he said. "A lot of these roads weren't put in well, which may have been the standard at the time."
Parry said the cost of redoing a 32-foot-wide street with two inches of asphalt is about $8 per square yard, so replacing a mile of road would cost about $150,000. In instances where roads can be repaired, rather than replaced, the cost for the same area would be about $26,000.
Considering the poor quality of many Gatesville streets, Parry said there are about 60 miles of road that need to be replaced. The total cost would be about $9 million.
"At our current rate, we bring in about $2 million a year in taxes," Parry said. That amount funds all of the city's expenses, apart from grants.
"There are honestly streets that can't be salvaged," he said. "So we look at the capital plan to see what water lines will be replaced in the next five years, and which streets can be done. There is a balance and a tradeoff."
Parry said he is retiring now because he had a long-term plan to retire at age 68, and he believes he is leaving Gatesville at a time when progress is being made to improve the community.
"I look at what accomplishments have been made to improve the quality of life in Gatesville, and we're on the right track," he said. "I am proud of the employees. They are a great team and dedicated public servants. They are experts in the areas of specialization, and I listen to them. It's been up to me to provide them with the resources they need. We are as close as we've ever been to getting them the resources they need.
"I am proud of the City Council. There have been some tough arguments over the years but they generally give us the resources we need and are dedicated to doing their best for the community.
Parry said the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates city managers stay on the job in one location for an average of two years.
"I like to say I beat the odds - beat the average," he said.
What's next on his agenda?
"I am the guardian and conservator for my mother, who is in her 90s in Missouri, and it's hard to do that from 1,000 miles away," Parry said. "We wanted to get closer to family (in North Texas) so we can get help when we need it and it's not a burden to them. We are close enough to grandkids so I can watch them play sports more than once a season.
"We are also close to a major airport so we can travel if the mood strikes us."
A lifetime of service will continue for Parry and his wife, Stacye, in some form or fashion.
"It's important for us to volunteer for benevolent efforts," he said. "My wife has been involved in prison ministry since we've been here, and we'd like to do some volunteer work together.
"We'll be five minutes from the University of North Texas and they have a masters in public administration program. I've always envisioned one day maybe being a history teacher at a community college. I'm not going to sit around and watch soap operas.
"I'd like to continue to give back to the community and grow old gracefully."
