I love ornery city managers!

I like people with grit and a bit of an edginess to them. One such person I have admired from afar is a Texas city manager that appears to be riding off into retirement. In North Carolina, a town on the verge of being taken over by the state gets a temporary stay of execution. In Utah, some council members appear to think the current city manager’s contract contains to many protective provisions that favor the manager.

All that and more news after the job postings.

It is free to post all of your senior and executive level recruitments over at the AAME job board. If you would like to include them in this newsletter, select the $199 option.

City managers take a lot of shit and put up with a lot of bullshit. So, I like it when a public sector executive pushes back and throws some sharp elbows “in the paint.”

In many ways, I think of Killeen City Manager Kent Cagle as an old school son of a bitch. If it ain’t clear, I mean that with endearment and affection. Far too many executives are milquetoast or afraid to ruffle some feathers.

This amazing editorial piece by the local reporter provides a colorful glimpse into Cagle’s personality from the perspective of someone who has covered him for years. Kevin Limiti writes:

The same reporter also wrote a piece called “The Legacy of Kent Cagle” with some colorful exchanges that make it highly worth reading. In it he wrote:

Now, I have covered a previous Limiti smear of Cagle back in the March 25, 2025 issue of the newsletter. I felt that attack on Cagle over a public information request was disingenuous.

Back to the headline for this feature spotlight.

Last week, Cagle announced he was retiring. The local media paints it as a surprise, but I am pretty sure it was common knowledge that Cagle has been ready to head to the barn for a while now.

He’s been putting up with — like I said a moment ago — a ton of shit. A sympathetic resident and supporter of Kent’s acknowledged as much in a recent letter to the editor.

Anyway, during the last meeting before Cagle announced his “sudden” resignation, he got into it with a critic who accused…um…err…suggested Cagle was living outside the city limits. The speaker hid behind the classic “word on the streets” argument.

Unamused, Kent immediately hit him with a $100,000 wager to see if he wanted to put his money where his mouth was. Here is the video.

Of course, the critic was unwilling to write a check that only his mouth was going to cash.

If this is really retirement for Cagle, then I wish him health and happiness. But, as someone who considers himself to be a bit of dinosaur — I would like to see our species stick around a little longer. So, I hope you find another assignment worth sinking your teeth into.

This one’s for you, Kent!

In 94 years, the North Carolina LGC has only taken over 12 towns. Rocky Mount could be lucky number 13 — but they have been given a temporary reprieve. For now, they will need to provide bi-weekly reports on their progress to right the balance sheet and city officials will have to attend the May and June meetings of the LGC.

State Auditor Dave Boliek excoriated the former town manager, Keith Rogers, earlier this month at a press conference and in a 257 page report.

“What we found was red flag after red flag, including the fact that he had previously been the town manager of Dumfries, Virginia. And during his time there, we found recurring issues of poor management and poor decision making, including a pattern of unqualified, IRS questionable salary increases without council approval, inadequate segregation of duties, and structurally unsound budgeting. Those deficiencies in that community ultimately resulted in a $1 million overspend by the city manager, yet the Rocky Mount City Council voted unanimously to hire him.”

It seemed like Heber City City Manager Matt Brower’s contract was going to be renewed without much fanfare. He’s been there since 2017.

However, the council delayed the vote and will take the matter up on April 14th. Mayor Heidi Franco said she was concerned about the amount of protection Brower has in his contract. She was the lone vote against it 2023 when they added a severance provision for termination without cause.

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