Woodcreek hires new city manager

The city of Woodcreek has hired a new city manager — almost six months after its last manager resigned.

Previous Woodcreek City Manager Brenton Lewis submitted his resignation to Mayor Jeff Rasco in June, prior to the June 8 Woodcreek City Council meeting. The news was announced by the city on June 11. Since then, the city conducted a thorough application and interview process for the position, just recently announcing the selection of Kevin Rule last week.

Kevin Rule, currently the finance director for Leon Valley, will begin his position in Woodcreek on Dec. 1. Rule has previous municipal government experience in the cities of Lubbock and Andrews.

“Woodcreek has no utilities to be responsible for, no fire department,” Woodcreek Mayor Jeff Rasco said. “His job really is to be the face of the city, and we interviewed strongly on service leadership. When I ran for mayor, one of my big priorities and promises was increasing community support, specifically customer service on the part of the city, so we’re really trying to live up to that.”

Eight applicants were interviewed in-depth for the city manager position. Each was ranked on a quantitative analysis, and the top three were selected for second- round interviews. Rule, even prior to the second round, had the highest ranking.

“It really makes me feel like we made the right decision,” Rasco said. “He’s gung-ho and ready to go, and we’re really excited to have him fill that position.”

In the absence of a city manager, the mayor, city council and city staff passed a new budget, a new tax rate and a bond package.