Welcome to Nacogdoches! City Council Reveals New City Manager

Nacogdoches has had a total of seven city managers, Rick Beverlin will be the city's eighth.

Today, the City of Nacogdoches City Council announced the hiring of Beverlin. The City Council authorized Mayor Randy Johnson to begin negotiations with Beverlin following a 15-minute closed session by the council on Friday evening. A finalized contract with Mr. Beverlin was signed on Tuesday.

Beverlin, who currently serves as the city manager for Leander, Texas, (north of Austin) will begin his tenure with Nacogdoches on November 2^nd. Nacogdoches’ last city manager Mario Canizares, was hired in August of 2020 and served Nacogdoches for three years before taking the job of city manager in Prosper, Texas. Keith Kiplinger has served as Interim City Manager since March of this year.

The Nacogdoches City Council began the city manager search in July and narrowed the field of over 50 applicants who applied for the position down to 25. The remaining applicants were then asked to provide written responses to 22 questions selected by the city council and human resources director. The pool was further reduced via a round of teleconference interviews, leading to the selection of three finalists for the position. Beverlin was selected following a round of in-person meetings with staff followed by in-person interviews with the city council.

A Houston native, Beverlin has served as city manager of Leander since December 2019. Before that, he was Assistant city manager in Galveston, where he oversaw development services, public transportation and grant management. He has also served as economic development director in League City, city administrator in Kemah and senior transportation planner for the Houston-Galveston Area Council. Beverlin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of St. Thomas and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Houston.

"Being selected by the City Council to serve as the next City Manager of Nacogdoches is truly humbling”, said Beverlin.  “Our family is grateful for the warmth and hospitality of the entire community, which genuinely cares about its unique history, and its future.  To serve Nacogdoches specifically at this time, as the City seeks to ensure a vibrant local economy for its taxpayers, addressing critical infrastructure needs, maintaining a high quality of life, while also hosting a key 100-year old institution of higher learning in SFA, is the highest honor as a native Texan."