Interim Breckenridge City Manager resigns after four days on job
By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
The City of Breckenridge is currently without a city manager after the departures of the city manager and the interim city manager in the past two and a half weeks.
Then-City Manager Erica McComis’ resignation was approved by city commissioners on Monday, June 13. During that meeting, she said that the commission agreed to a contract with Texas First Group to provide an interim city manager.
In the June 13 meeting, McComis said she did not know when her last day as city manager would be. However, by Friday, June 17, she had reportedly left. On Monday, June 20, the Argyle (Texas) Town Council voted to hire McComis as their interim town administrator/town secretary, according to the posted video of the Argyle Town Council meeting.
On Tuesday, June 21, Jim Cox with Texas First Group started as Breckenridge’s interim city manager, and by Friday, June 24, he had decided to leave the position.
The city commission held a special meeting on Tuesday, June 28, going into executive (closed) session immediately after Mayor Bob Sims called the meeting to order. After meeting in closed session for more than an hour, the commissioners reopened the public meeting but took no action and immediately adjourned the meeting.
When asked to provide some details on the current situation with the City of Breckenridge, Mayor Sims said, “We’re not answering any… — everything was in executive session.”
City Commissioner Greg Akers confirmed the information about Cox starting and quitting the interim job within four days’ time, and Breckenridge City Secretary Jessica Sutter said this morning, Wednesday, June 29, that Cox “just said it was not a good fit.”
• Feb. 4, 2020 – City Manager Andy McCuistion announces his intent to retire
• April 30, 2020 – McCuistion’s last day as city manager
• May 5, 2020 – City Secretary Heather Robertson-Caraway and Assistant City Manager of Operations Houston Satterwhite appointed as co-interim city managers by the City Commission
• September 2020 – Scott Dixon hired as interim city manager by Strategic Government Resources, which was contracted by the City for the services and paid by the Breckenridge Industrial Foundation
• January 2021 – Heather Robertson-Caraway appointed as interim city manager
• July 20, 2021 – Erika McComis hired as city manager
• June 13, 2022 – Erika McComis’ resignation accepted by the Breckenridge City Commission
• June 17, 2022 – Reportedly McComis’ final day as Breckenridge City Manager
• June 21, 2022 – Jim Cox’s first day as interim city manager through Texas First Group
• June 24, 2022 – Jim Cox’s last day as interim city manager
Sutter said the city currently does not have a city manager or an interim city manager. Additionally, the assistant to the city manager/assistant city secretary, Pamela Wright, recently resigned from her position.
At about 2:30 this afternoon, a couple of hours after the Breckenridge Texan originally published this article, Sutter emailed a press release confirming Cox’s dates of working in Breckenridge and stating that the City is in the process of selecting a new Interim City Manager and/or permanent City Manager. Click the following link to read the press release: 2022.06.29 Resignation of Interim City Manager Press release
Cox was the fifth city manager/interim city manager that Breckenridge has had since former City Manager Andy McCuistion retired in April 2020 after eight years in the position. In perspective, in the 66 years from 1954, when Breckenridge first implemented the city manager position, until 2020, the City had 10 city managers/interim city managers with two of the managers serving twice, according to “City Government That Works: The History of Council-Manager Government in Texas” by Terrell Blodgett.
Cox was not an employee of the City; he was hired and paid through Texas First Group, which had a contract with the City for the interim city manager services.
Sutter said the City is currently looking to fill the interim city manager position “very quickly” and that continuing to use Texas First Group for that service is an option but has not been determined yet.
The positions of City Manager and Assistant to the City Manager are currently listed on the City’s Job Openings website page, along with openings for a parks maintenance technician and utility maintenance tech.
Cutline, top photo: At the June 7, 2022, Breckenridge City Commission meeting, Commissioner Vince Moore, Mayor Bob Sims and Mayor Pro Tem Rob Durham discuss city business. They met again on June 28 regarding the interim city manager but took no action. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Editor’s Note: This article was updated at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, 2022, to add the information from the press release that the City of Breckenridge sent at about 2:30 p.m.
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