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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBurleson City Manager Announces Retirement & News Articles - Kay Godbey 2001Susan Crim - Burleson: Kay Godbey, City Manager, Announces Retirement Page 1 i From: "CityBase.Net, Inc." <CityBase@earthlink.net> To: List Member <adeering@ci.hurst.tx.us> Date: 7/20/01 9:53AM Subject: Burleson: Kay Godbey, City Manager, Announces Retirement CityBase.Net, Inc. Press Release: Burleson City Manager Announces Retirement Burleson City Manager Kay Godbey has announced that she will retire on September 30, 2001. Godbey joined the City of Burleson in 1993 as the city*s first female city manager. She is the first city manager to retire from service in Burleson and she has the distinction of being Burleson*s longest -tenured city manager. During Ms. Godbey*s tenure as city manager, the city staff and the community have worked together to accomplish an impressive list of goals and projects. Numerous initiatives to improve communication tools, economic development programs, and the aesthetic quality of city facilities and traffic corridors have succeeded in improving Burleson*s image. Since 1993, the community has seen renovation and construction of several municipal buildings, including a public library, fire station and training tower, police department building, city hall, senior activity center, and the Interurban Building. Other capital projects completed during Ms. Godbey*s administration include Hidden Creek Golf Course & Sports Complex, Oak Valley North Park, and the renovation of Bartlett Park. The city has experienced major expansion of the city*s water and wastewater system, extension of streets and drainage facilities, and numerous other infrastructure improvements since 1993. Following a successful bond initiative in May 2000, the city has now begun design work on a new central fire station, the extension of Hidden Creek Parkway, a new city service center and animal shelter, and additional Water, wastewater, street and drainage improvements. And the community*s cost for these projects is likely to be reduced due to the recent improvements in the City*s bond ratings. While serving as Burleson*s chief administrator, Ms. Godbey has worked with city staff to create new city departments for environmental services and information technology to help Burleson meet current and future challenges. She has also worked with the Burleson Fire Department to create the city*s first full-time and 24-hour firefighter staffing with advanced life support capabilities. Ms. Godbey has also made a determined effort to focus attention on the *Community of Burleson*, which includes areas outside the city limits (fire district, school district, etc.) that are important to Burleson*s quality of life. She firmly believes that emphasis on this *whole community* concept will continue to help Burleson*s future planning and development efforts. Ms. Godbey has also been a strong advocate of Burleson*s City of Character initiative, supporting the resolution adopting the program and implementation of the character curriculum within the municipal organization. Ms. Godbey*s ability to foster professional relationships has helped facilitate many cooperative agreements between Burleson and other governmental agencies. Burleson has a strong working relationship with the Susan Crim - Burleson: Kay Godbey, City Manager, Announces Retirement Page 2 City of Fort Worth, the Texas Department of Transportation, Burleson Independent School District, Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Johnson County, Tarrant County, University of Texas at Arlington, and numerous cities in both Johnson and Tarrant County. Ms. Godbey has helped to bring pride and fun to the community through, such activities as the now annual July 4th fireworks display. She has also brought pride and fun to the city organization by encouraging community involvement, technological advances and improved external communication regarding the many positive aspects of Burleson and the city organization. Kay Godbey holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Dallas Baptist University. She maintains an Advanced Texas Peace Officer and Instructor Certification from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington School of urban Affairs and as the Academic Director for the School of Urban Affairs for the UTA Alumni Board. She chairs the Advisory Committee for UTA*s newly established *Certified Public Manager* program, which is offered in conjunction with Southwest Texas University (San Marcos, Texas). Before coming to Burleson, Ms. Godbey served the City of Euless for over 18 years; first with the police department, then as City Secretary, and finally as Assistant City Manager. Kay Godbey is an active member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Texas City Management Association (TCMA), and North Texas City Management Association. She has held several appointed and elected positions within these organizations, including that of NTCMA President in 1999. Over the course of her career, she has written articles and spoken to numerous professional groups, providing guidance and instruction on various leadership, management, police, and technical issues. She is Editor of the award -winning city newsletter Burleson Progress Report. Ms. Godbey has been recognized numerous times for her contributions in the public service arena. She was the 1996 recipient of the North Central Texas Council of Government's Linda Keithley Award for Women in Public Management. She was also the 1998 recipient of the Athena Award, presented by Forrest Chevrolet and the Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2000 the Urban Management Assistants of North Texas (UMANT) awarded her the Joy Sansom Mentorship Award. Ms. Godbey is taking the opportunity to join her husband, Bill Dodson, in retirement so they can travel and spend more time with family. The couple plans to continue residing in Burleson. To unsubscribe, write to CityBaseArticles-unsubscribe@listbot.com k/o Lt;�� Announces Retirement City Manager Kay Godbey has announced that, after nearly eight years with the City of Burleson, she will retire on September 30, 2001. Ms. Godbey joined the City of Burleson in 1993 as the city's first female city manager. She is the first city manager to retire from service in Burleson, and she has the distinction of being Burleson's longest -tenured city manager. Mayor Byron Black recently reflected on her service, saying, "Kay Godbey came to Burleson with a vision for the city. She felt that Burleson could become a vibrant, friendly community that people would enjoy living and raising a family in. She believed that all of the different segments of the community should receive and have the programs and services that they would want to participate in. She supports all the City employees and has high expectations of them." Since Kay Godbey came to Burleson, the community and the city organization have grown tremendously. She has worked closely with City staff and community leaders to help guide that growth. Initiatives to improve communication tools, economic development programs, and the aesthetic quality of City facilities and traffic corridors have succeeded in improving Burleson's image. Several municipal buildings have been constructed or renovated since 1993, including a public library, fire station with a training tower, police department building, City Hall, senior activity center and the Interurban Building. Other capital projects completed during Ms. Godbey's administration include Hidden Creek Golf Course & Sports Complex, Oak Valley North Park and the renovation of Bartlett Park. The city has experienced major expansion of its water and wastewater system, extension of streets and drainage facilities, and numerous other infrastructure improvements. Following a successful bond initiative in May 2000, the City has now begun design work on a new central fire station, the extension of Hidden Creek Parkway, a new City service center and animal shelter, and additional water, wastewater, street and drainage improvements. Ms. Godbey has worked with City staff to create new City departments for environmental services and information technology to help Burleson meet current and future challenges. She has also worked with the Burleson Fire Department to create the City's first full-time, 24-hour firefighting staff with advanced life support capabilities. Ms. Godbey has also made a determined effort to focus attention on the "Community of Burleson," which includes areas outside the city limits that are important to Burleson's quality of life. She firmly believes that emphasis on this "whole community" concept will continue to help Burleson's future planning and development efforts. Ms. Godbey has also been a strong advocate of Burleson's City of Character initiative, supporting the resolution adopting the program and implementation of the character curriculum within the municipal organization. During her career, Ms. Godbey has been recognized numerous times for her contributions in the public service arena. She was the 1996 recipient of the North Central Texas Council of Government's Linda Keithley Award for Women in Public Management. She was also the 1998 recipient of the Athena Award, presented by Forrest Chevrolet and the Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2000 the Urban Management Assistants of North Texas (UMANT) awarded her the joy Sansom Mentorship Award. Ms. Godbey is taking the opportunity to join her husband, Bill Dodson, in retirement so they can travel and spend more time with family. The couple plans to continue residing in Burleson. Founder's Day is coming on October 13th! Watch for more information on Cable Channel 7 and in the next Burlesonr . DISTR13UTED TO: DATE:7/9/93 MID CITIES NEWS DATE: JULY 1, 1993 MAYOR CITY COUNCIL PAGE T. HART S. CRIM T. COX K. D. M. GODBEY FORTES MUNDO 7.jr ' leases`'` u Godbe less` CITY ATTORNEY K. THOMPSON M. WYMAN for ob with Burleson., S,xY z By L. JAMES KUNKE News Staff Writer, ::. r.°: After 18 years in Euless, Assistant'City Manager Kay'Godbey an= nounced this week that she.has accepted the position of City Manager for the city of Burleson. Godbey, who literally, rose through the ranks from a police records -clerk to city secretary and later the city's number two administrator, will leave her Euless office July 9 and start herr, new job effective Aug. 1. "They called me last Wednesday (June 235 -and offered me''the job, and I gave final, acceptance on the 25th," said Godby;'who also will be moving her residence to Burleson as soon as she sell her house in Euless. , .; .Godbey is one of the brightest success stories among Euless person- nel.' She'sta`rted working for the city 18 years,ago as a police department records',clerk before moving.on to positions as secretary to the de,tec- fives and secretary to the police chief. made the move to administration inAhe mid-1980s when she be- came City Secretary at the urging of then city manager, and former po- lice chief, Blackie Sustaire. That move also started her on the road toward higher education. She - began taking night classes at Tarrant County Junior College and kept at- -tending school until receiving her master's degree, eight years later. . "I went back to-TCJC to start with, and then got my bachelor's degree at Dallas Baptist University and went right on to my master's degree at UTA," she said.'"I went to college at night. for eight years after I became city .secretary and I finished my :master's -after 1' Was ;assistant city manager." Godbey 6.bca� e-Ahe, se6 iilriin4command 'a Ci 'Hall when tom. Hart y1h . eplaced Sustaire as''City Manager in February Of, 1, 89. Althouglf w` orl(-'- ?Ing in city administration never was a goal when she started working, in °the police department, someday becoming a city manager suddenly be came a very realistic aim. .- ,`;;;,: ; ::;;' "Really, Blackie Sustaire and .Tom Hart really started talking to me 1 about getting into the city manager side of it," she said. "The first year, they talked to me about it I thought they were joking, but they kept after me and I finally decided they were serious." _ Godbey saw her chance to make the next move .up the career ladder last month when Burleson advertised its vacant city manager position. "I saw the ad and drove down there and drove around the city, then sent in my resume,", she said. "It was a pretty good while before they called for an interview. "The staff out there seems, to have somewhat of a family atmosphere, which I like. I had a real positive feeling that night and got the offer the next night." After 18 years working in one city, however, the decision to move on was not easy for Godbey. "It is very emotional, she said. "This is like a home to me, and I wouldn't go to just any city. If I didn't have a really good feeling about this one I would not be going. I think everything hit just right with Burle- son and I feel like it was meant to happen." Godbey said her wide variety of duties and experiences in Euless will help her be a more effective city manager. "Burleson's population is a little over 16,000, and when I first came to Euless it was 19,000, so I've watched that growth from that side," she said. "I think that I could just see where, with some of these experiences here, maybe I can -know some things_ not to do and some things to do. . Burleson sees itself as a bedroom community, but I see so much more for them. DISTRIBUTED TO: `1AYOR T. HART S. CRIM T. COX CITY ATTORNEY DATE: 7/9/93 MID CITIES NEWS DATE: JULY 1, 1993 CITY COUNCIL PAGE �Z ,Z K. GODBEY D. FORTE' M. MUNDO K. THOMPSON Godbey: To head Burleson staff M. WYMAN Hart said losing Godbey, to ano i er city was inevitable and 'he is hap- py for her succ;Gss: "I am totally excited about her;" he said. "Part of my enjoyment in, my business is having good staff and grooming them for even higher lev- el positions. , F. "The other side of the coin is 1',in just losing one heck of an assistant, so there's always a negative side.,t loose her management abiity,.I loose her historical persepective because she's been here a long time, 'I loose all that enthusiasm she brings.", .i: '; : Joe Hennig, a former.businessman and chamber of commerce official hired, last year as director of development and operations for the city, will be the new assistant city manager after Godbey leaves. "I'm naming Joe Hennig my Assistant City Manager to oversee opera- tions and he will have five directors answering to him," Hart said, "I'm, keeping police and fire directly with me. (Police Chief) K.B. Fuller will be kind of third in line, and when Joe and I are not there he will be num- ber thre and assume the manager's role. "We also did a lot of internal shuffling, and I think it will be great. I've had a tremdnous loss with Kay but I have some good people ready to step in. Kay was ready for the next step, and I had some other people in my organization ready to take' the next step here. Hart has helped prepare city managers for other cities before; most'. recently when Steve Norwood last year went from Hart's assistant to city manager in Wylie. Hart was recognized last November by a Urban Management Assis- tants as the top mentor among area city managers in 1992, largely be- cause of his work with the Euless intern program and the large number. of Euless City Hall employees, who move on to top jobs with other cities. Education and Determination Win Success � � URLESON CITY Manager Kay Godbey's remarkable success was anything but `-= assuued eighteen years ago. A single mother in 1975, Godbey took the job of records clerk in the Euless Police Department to support her two young daughters. But Godbey's swift typing ability from her court reporting studies landed her a secretarial position in the detective division within two days, and, eventu- ally, she became the chiefs secretary. While she was working in the police department, Godbey attended the police academy and was certified as a Texas peace officer and police instruc- tor in report writing. Her teaching reputation led to several contracts with the Texas A & M police academy. Hard work and determination led to her promo- tion to city secretary in 1981. "Then my life really changed;' Godbey said. She worked directly for the city council and was involved in city management for the first time. She attended council meetings and workshops, prepared agendas, and worked with all the city departments, including the city attorneys office. Godbey finished her city secretary certification in two years, but she wanted the credibility of a college degree; so, when her daughters were out of high school in 1983, she enrolled for night classes, first at Tarrant County Junior College and then at Dallas Babtist where she completed a criminal justice degree in 1987. Godbey started on her master's in public admin- istration at SUPA in 1988. She said she looked at both UTA and the Univer- sity of North Texas, but she decided on UTA because she "had a better feeling at UTA." "SUPA has an excellent program," she said. "It's academic and practical, too." Godbey mentioned, in particular, Dr. Sherman Wyman's budgeting classes which examined the actual budgets of several Texas cities. She said she was able to apply everything she learned back in Euless. Euless City Manager Blackie Sustaire and Assistant City Manager Tom Hart encouraged Godbey to get into management, but, she said, "For the first year, I thought they were joking." It proved no joke, however, for when Hart took the reins as city manager in 1989, he immediately hired Godbey as his assistant. Godbey said her education at SUPA was invalu- able to her as assistant city manager. She attributed one of her successes to what she learned in Dr. Paul Geisel's course in social theory. With that knowledge, Godbey said, she was able to socialize a previously alienated ethnic group, the Tongans, into the Euless community. Godbey also used her SUPA skills to establish the first Texas drainage utility which conforms to Texas statute. She completed this major undertaking with inside staff in six months at a savings of $60,000 and 18 months time when compared with the bid of an outside consultant of $120,000 and 24 months. Godbey was hired as city manager of Burleson, Texas in August, 1993, and she has a vision for that community which, she says, has everything going for it, including a supportive and cohesive city council and an active community. Godbey said the citizens recently approved a group of bond projects which the city is now initiating all at once. They include major utility expansions down the main corridor, extension of some major streets, a 2-million gallon water storage tank, a larger police station, a new library, a second fire station, a city hall expansion, a senior citizen center- and an athletic complex. When asked the secret of her success, Godbey replied,"Determination. When I feel like something is the right thing to do, I'm real good at getting around obstacles. At work and in my personal life, if I can't go over or around it, I go through it." But she also credits Tom Hart: "I couldn't have done it without Tom's support. He was an excellent mentor. He always supported me one thousand percent. That was one reason I could get as much done as I did." Burleson City Manager Kay Godbey earned a master of public administration at SUPA in 1988. 13 SUPA News UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON Students Site Hazardous Material Plant Professors Assist with Fort Worth Budget SUPA Helps Local Jurisdictions Save Money Polish Fulbright Offers Insight SUPA Professor Advises Courts Students: Deputy and Chief Alumnus Feted at Gala Success for '91 Graduate Faculty Activities Grads on the Move Video frame capture of Professor Ardeshir Anjomani, middle, and student Chris Bryce, right, discussing their award - winning Benbrook project with News Director Donna Darovich on UTA Today. Benbrook Distinction `3 UPA PROFESSOR Ardeshir Anjomani supervised an award -winning student project last year. "US Highway 377 Corridor Design Study, prepared for the city of Benbrook, Texas by eight of Anjomani's graduate students, won the 1993 Student Project Award of the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association on Oct. 8. City and regional planning students at SUPA must complete two planning projects to fulfill requirements for a master's degree. Such projects give them real -world experience in their future professions, and they are a service the university provides to the surrounding communities. This project was one of 20 requested by Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex municipalities. Benbrook was concerned about the development around US Highway 377 which bisects the town. Without proper plan- ning, such development can deteriorate and destroy a town's economic development potential as well as its charm. Benbrook city planners asked Anjomani's class to help by performing a study and offering recommen- dations for develop- ment. "The project seemed Winter/Spring 1994 overwhelming at first," said student Chris Bryce "but then we began analyzing the problem and develop- ing methods of approach to get it under control." The students used and improved upon a method- ology developed by previous city and regional planning students and their supervising professor. First they did extensive existing -condition surveys. To make their job easier, the students videotaped the corridor for study in the classroom. The class broke the corridor into six zones where it passes through Benbrook. They viewed every building in this mile -and -a -half stretch and devel- oped maps of the six zones. Because the students' backgrounds were in Continued on page 11