Azle’s assistant city manager to leave at end of month

Lawrence Bryant speaks on career change after two decades of service

AZLE — Beginning as a student intern in July 2002, Azle Assistant City Manager Lawrence Bryant has spent his entire career in Azle.

Today, he prepares to say his goodbyes to the community and people he has spent decades getting to know and love.

Bryant grew up in Longview in East Texas, but went to Brigham Young University in Utah to get his undergraduate degree.

“I was a marketing communications major, which is a, basically a fancy way to say advertising major,” Bryant said. “About two semesters before I graduated, I realized ‘This is not for me. I do not want to do this.’ I was just like, ‘Man, I really don’t want to be telling people what toothpaste they ought to buy for the rest of my life.’” Just two semesters from graduating, Bryant found the concept of switching majors to be a daunting choice.

Not wanting to disappoint his parents and not wanting to add another two or three years to his graduation date, Bryant found his saving grace in advice from a friend and fellow student. She was working toward a master’s degree in public administration and said he could do the same under his current degree plan.

Participating in Boy Scouts as a kid, Bryant said he had always felt drawn to public service and decided administration could be what he was looking for. He went back to his home state to pursue higher education.

While in grad school at the University of North Texas, the city of Azle funded a six-month internship for Bryant. Finding that he liked the work, Bryant also interned with the city of North Richland Hills for more experience. While in that internship, former Azle City Manager Craig Lemin — who was assistant city manager at the time — reached out to Bryant and encouraged him to apply for a newly created management analyst position.

The rest is history.

Bryant joined the city fulltime in October 2003 and has been here ever since.

“It was not on my radar at all as a young adult,” Bryant said. “I had no idea what a city manager was, but the more I learned about it, the more I familiarized myself with it, I knew that that was what I wanted to do.”

Bryant stuck to it, excelling and assisting Lemin in his professional dealings.

Around 2005, the city’s finance director, Jorge Trevino, left for a job in another city.

After an arduous search for qualified candidates, Lemin eventually offered Bryant the role where he served faithfully for six years, crossing “T”s and dotting “I”s. When Lemin transitioned from assistant city manager to city manager, his former position remained unoccupied for years. Bryant said he effectively filled most of the assistant city manager’s duties as finance director and he was a natural fit to again move up the ladder and take on the assistant city manager title 14 years ago.

Bryant said every day is different. He oversees many of the city’s public services, its finances and takes on many other responsibilities when needed. During his career, Bryant said one of the most notable developments was the increase in the city’s population from 9,600 to around 15,000. With that came the Azle Walmart in 2006 and the growth of countless other businesses and public amenities. He said Azle’s rapidly growing population and its location just outside the metroplex presented it with some unique challenges when compared with other cities in the metroplex proper.

“We’re just far enough away from a bigger city, like Fort Worth, where it doesn’t make sense for us to rely on them for a lot of services,” Bryant said. “Over in the mid-cities areas and closer to Fort Worth, a lot of those cities they’re relying on Fort Worth for their treated drinking water and to treat their wastewater, relying on them for ambulance service, things like that. Because of where Azle is, we’re far enough away that it just does not make sense for us to do that. We have to do all those things ourselves. There are cities in this area that are a bit bigger than us that don’t have a wastewater treatment plant like we do. Being in a place like this, even though it’s smaller, we do so many things. You do get those opportunities to be a part of the responsibilities that a bigger city would do.”

Bryant said he advises future public administrators not to shy away from smaller communities because of the wealth of experiences and opportunities they can provide.

His career trajectory was not typical for his line of work.

In a career like this, if you want to move up, you have to move on, Bryant said. In this regard, Azle has provided exceptional opportunities for advancement.

“I’ve spent two thirds of my adult life here and it’s a special place,” Bryant said. “One of the biggest things that makes it such, is the people.

There are a lot of great people that work for the city of Azle … The best thing about working here is the people I get to work with. I really enjoy coming to work and interacting with my coworkers. It probably sounds cliche, but we are like family up here.”

Another rewarding aspect of the job is serving Azle’s citizens and being a part of the process that improves their quality of life. In one example, Bryant said he is proud to be a part of the team that helped pay off its debt on the Cross Timbers Golf Course over 9 years early by utilizing royalties from the site’s two natural gas wells.

These early payments resulted in just over $1.8 million in total interest savings.

In doing so, the city was able to save taxpayers money and issue new debt which the city used to fund a new city hall and police station. In working with the Azle City Council, Bryant said he found nothing but good rapport and cooperation.

“It’s not been a tug of war,” Bryant said. “We’ve all been working together to pull the city in the same direction and pull it in a positive direction.” Yet another critical figure in Bryant’s life is current Azle City Manager Tom Muir, who he has worked with for the last nine years.

“His guidance and leadership as city manager here at the city of Azle have been invaluable,” Bryant said. “He is a great man and has been such a positive influence on me. Tom’s contributions to both my personal and professional life are countless and I will miss collaborating with him on a daily basis.”

Bryant’s last day in Azle will be Feb. 28. In March, he will begin work as an assistant city manager in Euless.

Bryant said he was not looking for a change in location and submitted his application just days before the deadline. Ultimately, Bryant could not resist the challenge of working for a larger city and the ease of commuting from much closer to his home. One of the draws of Euless, he said, is that it reminded him of what has been built in Azle. Looking at the opportunity ahead, the assistant city manager said he feels a mix of excitement and nerves, but he is not afraid.

Leaving the city where he built his career was no easy choice, but he feels proud of his work.

“My seeking a new opportunity had nothing to do with me being unhappy in my role here, or anything like that,” Bryant said. “I have said to myself, for a very long time, that if I were ever to leave employment with the city of Azle it would have to be for what I believe to be a really great opportunity. That’s where I am … If you ask me, ‘Are you leaving this place in a better spot than you found it?’ I can look you in the eye with 100% certainty, say, ‘Yes, I am.’” While no decision has been announced on Bryant’s potential replacement, he is confident the city of Azle is in good hands. In his time in Azle, he saw the comings and goings of three city managers and four mayors. From a clueless intern to Euless’ executive adjunct, Bryant has come far in his career and is grateful to the Azle community for the support and opportunities it has provided along the way.