Mission city manager to transition to different role

MISSION, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Mission City Council held a special meeting on Friday to discuss changing the city manager's contract. The closed session meeting was the only item on the agenda.

The decision to move on from current City Manager Mike Perez appeared to have already been made before the meeting started. In a press release from Mission, Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza thanked Perez, "for his service and commitment to our city."

"We're not getting rid of him," Mayor Garza told ValleyCentral. "We're still going to use him as a consultant. He's going to be a phone call away from our assistant city managers. They'll still be able to call him at any time. I will be able to call him at any time for advice or direction."

The city's statement went on to say the two Assistant City Managers, Andy Garcia and Juan Pablo Terrazas, would be guiding Mission during the transition. The statement added that the decision to schedule Friday's special meeting "was made during Monday night's executive session of the Mission City Council."

Before the Council and Mayor retired to speak behind closed doors, three community members came forward to address the members. Two of the speakers urged the council members to keep Perez in his current position, while the third wants to ensure he would still be active in important projects surrounding the Cimarron Country Club project.

Garza said that would still be one of Perez's biggest tasks going forward. She added that he had been instrumental in establishing the Property Improvement District that residents had petitioned the city to create.

The Mayor praised Perez for his work with the city, particularly in completing two successful budgets. Garza said Mission is in the best financial shape the city has been in, "in many, many years."

City Manager Perez now has to agree to the amended agreement that the city council approved at the meeting. The Mayor said she hopes to have that done as soon as Tuesday, after the Labor Day holiday.

Garza said Perez has the right to reject the proposal, at which point she said further negotiations would take place.

ValleyCentral contacted City Manager Perez for this story, but he declined to comment.