By PAMELA CODY
Special to the PRESS
Centered is newly appointed South Padre Island City Manager Randy Smith with Stormy Wall and David Ingleside, who wished him good luck on his new endeavor. Smith had been the interim city manager since the beginning of the year and was just granted the official title by the SPI City Council on Wednesday, June 19.
The South Padre Island City Council appointed their interim choice to the official position as City Manager, as former SPI police chief Randy Smith officially accepted the job at Wednesday night’s regular meeting.
Smith, who served as Police Chief for nine years, was tapped as interim city manager in January of this
year, after Susan Guthrie announced her resignation in December 2018. Guthrie, who served for just over two years, left to serve as town manager of Sunnyvale.
Smith has an extensive background as a municipal/local government employee, with 36 years under his belt as a veteran police officer and 22 years as Texas Police Chief in the cities of Surfside Beach and South Padre Island. While chief, he also logged 15 years as Emergency Management Coordinator and nine years as Public Safety Director.
In addition to his professional experience, Smith has served on numerous committees and associations, including the Texas City Management Association and the Texas Police Chiefs Association, as well as the Region F Coordinator for the Texas Crime Victim Services. He holds multiple degrees, is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and is also an EMT (emergency medical technician.)
After a lengthy two and a half hour meeting, council members went into executive session to deliberate the appointment of Smith as city manager. After about 15 minutes, council reconvened, formally announcing Randy Smith as the new South Padre Island City Manager. Smith was congratulated by several members of the SPI Police Department, as well as many friends, residents and city officials who were in attendance for the meeting.
Smith commented on his newly appointed city manager position, saying, “I’m excited about the opportunity. I’ve served in municipal government ever since I’ve been out of high school, and I’ve been growing through the process as we go. I’m always looking for new challenges. I was kind of ready for my next challenge anyway, but I wasn’t sure whether it was to take on a bigger city’s chief job or where my next direction would go.”
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