Palestine’s New City Manager Visits the City

PALESTINE – The lone finalist for the Palestine city manager’s job is visiting the city on today. Kevin Coleman will spend the day speaking with staff members and community leaders. Coleman’s schedule calls for meeting staff from various city departments early this afternoon. The public will be able to meet him at an open house at City Hall from 2:00 to 3:00pm. During the open house, Coleman plans to discuss his vision for the city and answer questions. Later, he will meet with the City Council for a special meeting to discuss, in executive session, the terms and conditions of his contract.

Coleman and two other finalists interviewed with city officials October 18th and 19th. They were among the 40 applications from 17 states that were received for the post. The council named their lone finalist for the post the following week. Coleman is currently the City Manager for Yoakum, Texas, where he has served since 2011.

Coleman has more than 13 years of local government experience, with eight years of city management experience, and more than nine years of nonprofit experience. He previously served as the Director of Development Services for the City of Kerrville, the Executive Director and Director of Construction for Abilene Habitat for Humanity and the City Manager for Dewey, Oklahoma. Coleman holds a bachelor of science in business administration and a master of arts in public administration from the University of Kansas.