By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members on Tuesday interviewed three candidates for the position of city manager.
The council held a special meeting Tuesday, with the sole item on the agenda a closed-door executive session to interview three candidates for the position of city manager.
The position has been vacant since the resignation of John Sheedy in January. The council appointed Assistant City Manager Manuel Chavez to serve as the interim city manager until Sheedy’s successor could be found.
The council on Tuesday interviewed Shawna Dowell Burkhart, Kent Souriyasak and Randy Edmonds Robertson, all three interviews done behind closed doors.
The city earlier this week released the resumes submitted by the three candidates, following an open records request by The 830 Times.
In her cover letter seeking the position, Burkhart wrote she has
22 years of municipal government work and said her experiences “have afforded me opportunities to manage a wide range of issues facing cities of various sizes.”
According to her resume, Burkhart most recently served as the city manager of Bay City, Texas, a city of 18,667 about 80 miles southeast of Houston. Burkhart worked as city manager there from March 2020 until January 2024.
Burkhart also served as city manager in Lamesa, Texas, a city of 9,440 about 60 miles south of Lubbock, from June 2015 until February 2020; as city manager of Converse, Texas, a city of 18,198 just northeast of San Antonio, from March 2011 until April 2014; and as city manager of Jacksboro, Texas, a city of 4,701 northwest of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, from March 2007 until February 2011.
Burkhart was employed as the city administrator for the city of Castroville, Texas, from February 2006 until October 2006; as assistant to the city manager for the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky, from November 2002 until January 2006; as budget and management analyst for the city of San Antonio from February 2001 until November 2002; as a grants administrator for Abilene Christian University from July 1999 until January 2001 and as institutional development officer for Southwest Texas Junior College from August 1996 until June 1999.
Souriyasak, in the summary paragraph at the top of his resume, describes himself as “a visionary public servant with over five years of experience in managing city operations, implementing policies, solving complex problems and developing exceptional community programs.”
According to his resume, the bulk of Souriyasak’s experience comes from his employment with the city of Lucas, Texas, a city of about 9,000 located on the northwestern edge of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.
Souriyasak worked for the city of Lucas as a special projects coordinator from October 2018 until March 2019, as assistant to
the city manager from April 2019 until September 2022 and as city manager from October 2022 until May 2024.
Before working for the city of Lucas, Souriyasak worked as an administrative assistant in the human resources department for the city of University Park, Texas, a city of 25,000 just north of Dallas. Souriyasak worked there from February 2018 until September 2018.
Robertson is a retired U.S. Army officer who served as brigade executive/chief of staff for the U.S. Army in Europe from 2001 to 2005 and as the chief of staff for the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico from 2005 until 2006.
Robertson’s resume notes he held several “brief or interim contract positions” during 2021 and 2022. Those positions included city manager of Dover, Delaware, population 39,000; city manager in Luzerne County, Penn., population 316,000; and library director in Durango, Colorado, a city of 19,000.
After retiring from the Army, Robertson served as city manager
for five cities across the United States, beginning with the city manager position for the city of Ashland, Kentucky, a city of about 21,000 in northeastern Kentucky. Robertson was the city manager there in 2006 and 2007.
In 2007, he became city manager of the city of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, Tenn., with a population of about 41,000. Robertson was city manager there until 2011.
Robertson served as first city manager of the city of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a city of about 38,000 just south of Birmingham. He worked there from 2011 until 2013. Robertson also served as chief executive officer for the city of Cordova, Alaska, a city of about 2,500 in the south-central part of the state. He worked there from 2013 to 2016.
Robertson also worked as city manager and chief operating officer for the city of Aberdeen, Maryland, population 16,800, from 2016 until 2020.
The council spent about an hour-and-a-half in executive session interviewing the three candidates individually.
When the council returned to open session, Mayor Al Arreola announced that no action had been taken in executive session, and the meeting was adjourned.
The city manager position was also an item on the agenda of the council’s executive session during its regular meeting, held immediately after the special meeting to interview the candidates, but after the council returned to open session, Arreola announced no action had been taken in that executive session, and no open session action was taken regarding the city manager position.
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