Rutledge serving as acting BC manager

The Texas Municipal League reports that David Rutledge is the acting city manager of Bridge City. He also serves as mayor.

The information on the group's website of incorporated cities in the state. Word from numerous sources is that the man who served as the city's new manager for only seven months resigned. The Bridge City City Council meeting on the night of August 20 had an agenda item listed as a closed-door executive session to "deliberate the employment, evaluation, separation, super visionary, discipline, and duties of the City Manager."

Texas Open Meetings Act allows public entities to discuss personnel in private sessions, but action must be made in public.

Mayor-Acting City Manager Rutledge did not answer phone calls nor return phone calls concerning the change in personnel.

Those agenda words were written legally to cover a number of actions the city council could have discussed against Christopher Baker, who was given a two-year contract when he was hired for city manager in January. At the time, Mayor Rutledge said usually the city manager has a yearly-contract, but the city council wanted someone to stay at least two years.

The Texas Municipal League's recommended contract for city managers has wording that allows a "unilateral severance," which means an agreement with the city manager and city council to allow the two to end the manager's contract.

The municipal league's recommended contract for severance includes a blank space for cities to agree to a number of months or years to for the city manager leaving the job to be paid full salary.

Mayor-Acting City Manager Rutledge has been active in the Texas Municipal League and in recent years served as president of the statewide group, a prestigious position.

The city manager before Baker had resigned for another job after being in the positions one year and six days. He took a similar city management job with a bigger city at more pay. Mayor Rutledge after that resignation said the man appeared to use Bridge City as a stepping stone in his career.

Before that, Bridge City had the same city manager for 15 years, Jerry Jones, who had been promoted from being the city's public works director for 11 years.

Baker is a native of the Mobile, Alabama, area and has a master's degree from the University of Texas at Arlington in city and regional planning. He has experience working in that field in Texas and Alabama. His previous job before coming to Bridge City was as the development director for a city of 115,000 in the Phoenix, Arizona, area.

Baker's resignation comes as the city is finishing approving a budget and tax rate for the 2024-25 budget year, which begins October 1.

The Bridge City City Council will next meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 5, at City Hall. The agenda includes a public hearing on the proposed tax for the upcoming year. The proposed rate is 46.8 cents per $100 valuation on property. It's the same rate as the current year, though many property owners will pay more because of increases in property values by the Orange County Appraisal District.