PEOPLE
2023 ANNUAL COMMUNITY GUIDE
Clint Garza Bee Cave’s city manager talks about transportation, city goals for upcoming year
My biggest issue on communi- cation is that everyone seeks out information di erently. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the turnout at the neighborhood meetings. It’s been quite rewarding because of how grateful people are that we’re going to them. I met with a neighborhood group on [a] Sunday, and one of the gentlemen brought up that, had it not been on [a] Sunday, he couldn’t have made it because he works so late. He was interested in what was going on, but he couldn’t always get the information. We have residents [who] don’t use social media, and we have residents [who] didn’t know they could sign up for our email list. Our communication strategy will probably be something that involves a little bit of everything. I foresee us going directly to residents a lot more frequently in the future. WHAT EXCITING THINGS SHOULD BEE CAVE CITIZENS ANTICIPATE FROM THE CITY THIS YEAR? The Books and Bees Festival coming up in April; the Magnolia Theatre
production of “Beauty and the Beast” this summer; and the ice rink, we hope will come back next year. We funded and we will participate with the 2023 Special Olympics contestants for the winter games. Our big job Fair in April or May that helps our busi- nesses in the summer. Also, the Bee Cave Library puts on events all year. WHAT ARE YOUR LONG TERM GOALS FOR THE CITY? My goal when I started was to make Bee Cave the best place in Texas to raise a family. If you look at the CIP and you really pay attention to it, and you look at the Central Park improve- ments, and you look at the nature center on Brown [property] and you look at the quality of life, which things like these additional roads would improve, it’s taken me four years to get to a point that I could implement it. I think I want to keep that goal in front of mind. When I interviewed with council, one of the comments that I made was, looking at population growth numbers, I told City Council, I would expect that you’re going to have a bunch of day cares coming in
that’s a signi cant challenge. It’s also a challenge to ensure the public is ade- quately informed and also adequately involved in the process. So, if I had to pick two things, one is the economic piece of it and the other piece is ensuring that the public is informed every step of the way. WHAT MAJOR PROJECTS WILL BEE CAVE BE FOCUSING ON THIS YEAR? [In addition to CIP], the two build- ings, the new library and new police department, are signi cant; and then the implementation of the thorough- fare and connectivity plans; also, building out the rest of the pedestrian and shared-use paths as well as some of those connector streets between Bee Cave Parkway and Hwy. 71 to provide alternate routes for local trips. AS YOU HAVE BEEN TALKING TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THE NEW HAMILTON POOL ROAD EXTENSION, WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHAL LENGES IN COMMUNICATING WITH BEE CAVE RESIDENTS?
for permits here real soon, because it looks like the population is getting younger. Over the rst four years I’ve been here, we’ve had day cares pop up all over town. And so the population was a leading indicator for the investment that people were going to make in child care because we have [more] families. As those kids age, I think I want to keep o ering things like the ice rink, the Books and Bees Festival and Magnolia Theatre. I’m not joking when I say this really is going to be the best place in Texas to raise your family. We’ve got great schools; it’s safe. We’ve got a commu- nity, and there’s a handful of things that the city can do at a relatively low barrier to entry. I think we have a responsibility to the residents that are here, and the ones that are coming, to maintain that quality of life; so my goal hasn’t really changed, because I’m just now getting an opportunity to put it in place. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT YOUR POSITION? I get to be two di erent people in one role. On the one hand, I can dress
LOOKING FORWARD Bee Cave City Manager Clint Garza outlined three of his goals and priorities for the city of Bee Cave in 2023:
Projects related to public roads, pedestrian access and facilities in the capital improvements plan Building process and next steps for the city’s new library and police department Connector roads and paths between Bee Cave Parkway and Hwy. 71 to help community members avoid the state highway when making local trips
BY TAYLOR CRIPE
Clint Garza has served as Bee Cave’s city manager since 2018. Before coming to work for Bee Cave, Garza was chief of sta and executive director of countywide operations for Hays County. In an interview with Community Impact Garza talked about his priorities for the upcoming year, his plans for recruiting sta , major projects for the year and his long-term goals for the city. This interview has been edited for grammar, style and length. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PRIORITIES FOR 2023? Implementation of our capital improvements plan, or CIP, is top priority.
COURTESY CITY OF BEE CAVE
I think the way I get good people to serve, either in retention of sta or in the interest of e ective leadership, the No. 1 way I can a ect that is by making it easy to serve. WHAT DO YOU FORESEE AS SOME OF BEE CAVE’S BIGGEST CHALLENGES? Implementation of the CIP is largely a ected by the nationwide economy and the state economy. Interest rates are higher than they were when we adopted the CIP. Construction costs are higher than when we contem- plated and adopted the CIP. I think
demand. There seems to be a lot of turnover in law enforcement, so [those are] the most di cult positions we have to ll. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES FOR WORKING WITH THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS? I think my role with elected o cials, and with sta , is to make their service as easy as humanly possible—providing a bu er between my sta and council, my sta and the public, and the public and council.
WHAT CHALLENGES HAS BEE CAVE FACED WITH STAFFING THIS YEAR? I had more of an issue with recruit- ing than retention. The only open positions we have left are for the police department. We have three open PD positions. It’s just incredibly di cult right now. There’s a lot of
up like the Grinch on Dec. 3, and then the following day, I can stand in front of a group of residents and talk about the importance of building roads for the remaining 10,000 residents. I get to have a lot of fun with what I’m doing. I have support from council and the majority of the residents to go out and do the right thing as well.
BEE CAVE 13015 Shops Pkwy (512) 263-9981
BRODIE LANE 4970 Hwy 290 W (512) 366-8260
NORTH 620 10601 N FM 620 (512) 506-8316
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