STAFF REPORT

BUDA – The Buda City Council has authorized Mayor Bobby Lane to execute a contract with Diboll City Manager Kenneth Williams to make him the new city manager of Buda.

Buda Finance Director and Interim City Manager Sarah Mangham made the announcement in a press release Friday night.

The city is offering Williams a $106,000 salary, an $8,000 car allowance and paid health insurance for one family member.

Williams became the city manager in Diboll in July 2006 after seven years on the administrative staff in Lufkin. Diboll is an Angelina County town estimated at a population of about 5,500, located about 10 miles south of Lufkin and 100 miles north of Houston on U.S. 59.

As the city manager in Diboll, Williams faces a budget situation somewhat similar to the present climate in Buda, where a 22-percent sales tax decline during the last year is forcing cutbacks in next year’s budget. Williams told his Diboll city council this week that the sales taxes there have fallen 17 percent this year, according to the Diboll Free Press.

A contract with Williams would put an end to a long search for a city manager in Buda, where Robert Camareno resigned in February to take a position in his hometown of New Braunfels.

The city interviewed four candidates in late June and offered the job to Jennifer Tubbs, the township manager in Watertown, MI. However, the city couldn’t come to terms with Tubbs, who wanted a one-year housing allowance to cover mortgage payments during an attempted home sale in Michigan.

Following Tubbs’ refusal, Buda councilmembers interviewed Williams and Robert Schaumleffel, the former city manager of Creedmoor, NC, last week.

RELATED IN THE MERCURY:

• Buda to interview new round of city manager candidates | July 16, 2008
• Buda, Williams agree to terms | August 5, 2008
• New city manager to debut at Buda council meeting | September 15, 2008
• Buda year in review: Change at the top, but not on Main Street | December 29, 2008
• Buda hires interim, sort of | February 24, 2008