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BROWNSVILLE — The city publicly introduced its five finalists for the city manager position during a Friday evening forum held at the Brownsville Events Center.
Candidates were asked about their work background, key priorities for Brownsville, knowledge of the city culture and more.
The finalists include two internal candidates: Assistant City Manager Doroteo “Doro” García Jr. as well as Police Chief and Assistant City Manager Felix Sauceda.
García is also a licensed civil engineer and said he never thought Brownsville would be growing at the rate it is today, adding that he has gotten to see how dedicated employees look out for the community on a day-to-day basis.
Sauceda has been with the city for 35 years and is aware of challenges, he said, joking that he’s been working with Brownsville since he was in diapers.
Other Texas candidates are DeSoto City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry and Schertz City Manager Steve Williams.
Al-Ghafry serves a population of 57,000 people and Williams manages a city of 43,000 people, according to respective city data.
Brownsville has a population of about 200,000 people, according to the city website.
Al-Ghafry and Williams have both been in public service for over 30 years.
Al-Ghafry was previously city manager assistant in Dallas, which now has a population of about 1.3 million people, according to Dallas’ economic development organization.
Williams has a background in finance and was previously assistant city administrator and chief financial officer for Conroe which has a population of over 110,000 people, according to the city’s website.
Edwina “Eddie” Benites is an out-of-state finalist. She is a county administrator in West Virginia’s Jefferson County. She previously worked in the United States Senate and as a federal lobbyist, she said.
VISIONS FOR BROWNSVILLE
García, Brownsville assistant city manager, and Benites, currently in West Virginia, both said that their priorities as city manager would focus on economic opportunities for locals and quality of life.
“Our region is not the healthiest,” García said, adding that he hopes to continue addressing issues.
Both García and Benites said they wanted to focus their work on improving education to help increase the median wage of residents.
Benites said she wanted to build on programs that train residents for local career opportunities.
“With me not from here, it’s beautiful that you’d extend the idea of ‘one city’ out,” Benites said, citing the city’s philosophy, established in 2023, calling for collaboration between the community, educational institutions and private-sector partners.
Police Chief Saucenda noted that when it comes to hiring locals, it starts with work in public school education.
Sauceda’s top priorities focused on ports of entry. By advancing operations of port systems, the city can remain inviting and work alongside companies, he said.
All candidates talked about the city’s economic growth with the arrival of SpaceX and liquified natural gas plants.
The external candidates all expressed being drawn to Brownsville because of its proximity to SpaceX and the border.
Al-Ghafry said he wants to make sure the city spends its money right by focusing on growth and the strongest return on investment. He wants Brownsville to have a seat at the table when it comes to liquified natural gas plants and SpaceX.
Williams said that he wants to maintain the city’s “customer service mentality,” culture and identity, while adapting to changes with large companies investing in the area.
“A thing that excites me as an outsider is the tremendous potential, all the way to the sky, not to use a SpaceX pun,” Williams said.
THE PUBLIC FORUM
“The good thing about internal candidates is that we already know their experience, we deal with them on a daily basis,” Mayor John Cowen Jr. said.
With external candidates, you get to bring people with a different perspective who can bring innovation that the city might not have today, he continued.
With about 72 overall applicants, a city subcommittee narrowed its choice down to 10 people and then five, Cowen said.
Candidates had interviews with Brownsville city commissioners early Friday and were set to have another round of interviews Saturday, he said.
The forum was planned intentionally as an opportunity for a community consensus, according to Cowen.
For the event, the city asked select publicly submitted questions, according to Esmeralda “Esmy” Villarreal, who introduced the city manager finalists and presented questions.
Villareal introduced candidates, noting that their names had not previously been made public.
After interviews, Villareal told forum attendees to share their thoughts by filling out an online survey using a QR code projected on screens by the stage.
Many city staff attended the event, ranging from the city’s health department to international government relations. The candidate’s families were also present.