AMARILLO—With Amarillo city manager Jared Miller now released from his contract, the Amarillo City Council moved quickly to select an interim replacement, until a new full-time city manager can be selected.
Amarillo City Councilmembers voted earlier this month to name Andrew Freeman as Amarillo’s interim city manager. Freeman, who has been Amarillo’s deputy city manager since May, will fulfill the day-to-day responsibilities of the city manager until the City Council can select a replacement for Miller. As of this writing, no timeline has been outlined for when the City Council might complete a talent search to replace the city manager.
Freeman was hired by the City of Amarillo in 2017, shortly after Miller was named as city manager. About a year later, Freeman was promoted to the position of Director of Economic Development and Intergovernmental Affairs. As part of his job, Freeman’s responsibilities included his role to “develop and monitor the City’s state and federal legislative agendas.”
During his work on the taxpayer-funded lobbying program in Amarillo, Freeman introduced the City of Amarillo’s legislative priorities to the City Council and presented an item last year to outline Amarillo’s recommendations for items to include in the Texas Municipal League’s legislative priorities for the 2023 legislative season. Among the priorities outlined in the 2023 legislative agenda for the City of Amarillo was a call to oppose legislation that would “unnecessarily restrict the City’s ability to issue debt or impose undue burdens on debt issuance referendums.”
With Freeman now selected to serve as interim city manager, he adds to his bureaucratic resume, which also includes stints as assistant city manager in Plainview and as city manager in Tulia.
