Dateline: June 5, 2003

Pate takes reins at City Hall 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Sean Pate took the helm as Clarendon’s new City Administrator on Monday after the Board of Aldermen approved his hiring last week.

“Nobody likes change,” said Mayor Tex Selvidge, “but I think and most of the board feels like this is going to be the best thing for the city in the long run.”

Pate, a graduate of Canadian High School and West Texas A&M University, began the week by meeting with employees and learning about the operation of the city, and Mayor Pro Tem Mark White showed him around town.

“I won’t make a lot of drastic changes,” Pate said. “I want to get to know the city and the people.”

The first objective for the new administrator is to get the city ready for the annual Saints’ Roost Celebration in July.

“We’re going to be busy getting the city cleaned up. We want to get the park ready. We’re going to get the parking spaces striped on Kearney Street and get the weeds pulled.”

City workers are also going to be busy replacing some old water meters, work in which Pate intends to help.

“I’ve been very impressed with the enthusiasm shown by our workers.”

Pate says he wants to serve the people and says his office – as soon as he has one – will keep an open door policy so citizens can stop by, and he will be happy to speak with them any time. A contractor is expected to enclose a corner in City Hall this week for use as the administrator’s office.

The new administrator has also been familiarizing himself with the newly codified city ordinances and said he plans to work on improved code enforcement over time.

Pate previously worked as the city administrator and director of public works at Dalworthington Gardens, a bedroom community of Arlington. He says he moved back to the Panhandle because the area is better suited to his family, and they are now living in Shamrock where his wife’s parents are.

Pate, his wife, Melanie, and his 15-month-old daughter, McKenna, will move to Clarendon as soon as they find a place to stay.

Hired by a 4-1 vote, Pate knows he has to prove himself to some people who are not in favor of having a city administrator. Alderman Michael Tibbets voted against hiring Pate and has been a consistent objector to the idea of filling the office, which has been vacant since 1965.

“You can’t be everything to everyone,” Pate said. “You have to earn respect, and I’m going to work hard to work with the board. I want to be a source of information for them.”