14 Oct Mission Council Takes No Action on City Manager Search

Mission’s hunt for a permanent city manager hit another pause Tuesday. The City Council went into executive session on the search at the end of its meeting, then returned to open session and reported no action.

The agenda called for the council to discuss which applicants to interview, how and when those interviews would happen, and what direction to give city staff.

Mission has gone just over a year without one permanent city manager, since Mike Perez left in September 2025. Assistant city managers Andy Garcia and J.P. Terrazas were elevated to share the interim job, and they still hold it. In August, council voted 3-2 to start a search, with Councilman Jose Alberto Vela and Mayor Pro Tem Ruben Plata opposed, per the McAllen Monitor.

That search is already behind. Applications closed Sept. 23, council members were supposed to review candidates on their own Sept. 24 through 27, and the city had hoped to hold first-round interviews by Oct. 3. Those interviews didn’t happen on time, the Progress Times reported ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.

Some residents don’t want a hire before the November election. Karen Prewitt told council during public comment that as many as four of its five seats could change hands, and that new members could want a different city manager. She also pointed to the severance packages that typically follow a manager’s departure, said Garcia and Terrazas could stay on in the meantime, and warned that the uncertainty could make candidates hesitant. Rick Salinas made a similar plea in August. He, Plata and Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza are among six candidates for mayor, the Monitor reported.

Garza told the Progress Times on Monday that the city isn’t trying to rush the search and that scheduling has contributed to the delay. She said the council’s previous meeting ran long, and members held off on the topic because a decision this important deserved a clearer frame of mind. She hadn’t seen the applications and wasn’t sure how many had come in. Council could still name a pick this month, the paper reported, though Garza left open taking new applications. If it doesn’t, she said she would imagine the council narrowing the field to three finalists.