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La Marque council appoints JB Pritchett as city manager after closed interviews
Summary
After four closed-door interviews with finalist candidates, the La Marque City Council voted 4-1 on May 12 to appoint Interim City Manager JB Pritchett to the permanent position; council members discussed qualifications, municipal experience and council outreach before the vote.
The La Marque City Council voted to appoint JB Pritchett as city manager during its May 12 meeting, following a special-session interview process with four finalists earlier in the day.
Council members interviewed Charles Huber, Fidencio Leija, JB Pritchett and Marco Villarreal in executive session before returning to open session to discuss and act. Council proceeded to select a new manager after roughly four hours of interviews and discussion. The vote to appoint Pritchett carried 4-1.
Why it matters: the city charter requires the council to choose a city manager based on training and municipal management experience. Council members repeatedly cited municipal experience and familiarity with La Marque day-to-day operations as decisive factors. In the open-session discussion before the vote, several members said Pritchett’s municipal background and current role as interim manager weighed heavily in his favor; others emphasized different strengths among the finalists.
Council discussion and rationale: several members told the council they were impressed by multiple finalists but that only some candidates met the charter’s explicit municipal qualifications. One council member said Pritchett was the only candidate with municipal management experience and noted his ongoing public-management training. Another member argued for Marco Villarreal based on broader government and security networks but raised concern about start date timing. A different council member said outreach between some council members and the interim manager had been handled differently than expected and referenced conflicting recollections about whether outreach attempts had been made; the council acknowledged differing perspectives and said the executive-session interviews reflected each candidate’s position.
Formal action: the council accepted a motion to select JB Pritchett as city manager and called the question; the motion passed by roll call with a recorded outcome of yes: 4, no: 1. The council did not attach conditions or amendments to the appointment during open session. The item was handled as action arising from personnel deliberations authorized under Texas Government Code §551.074.
What happens next: staff and council said they will work to finalize an employment agreement and asked city legal and administrative staff to begin preparing contract documentation and a draft employment arrangement for council review. Council directed staff to return with any required paperwork and to coordinate the transition process so the appointee can assume duties consistent with the charter and council direction.
Context: the council interviewed four finalists after an earlier candidate withdrew. The interviews and appointment followed procedures the council cited under the Texas Open Meetings Act and Texas Government Code provisions authorizing executive-session personnel deliberations.
Ending: Council members praised the finalists’ qualifications and asked staff to complete the contract process; no implementation timeline was published at the meeting.
