Special City Council Meeting – September 1, 2026: Executive Session on City Manager Selection
Special City Council Meeting – September 1, 2026
The Killeen City Council met in special session on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 1:00 PM in City Hall. The sole purpose was to discuss and review applications for the City Manager position in closed executive session. No action was taken during the meeting. The agenda was approved unanimously (7-0). Three citizens provided comments during the public comment period, outlining their expectations for the next city manager.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Michael Fornino urged the council to thoroughly vet candidates, emphasizing that no candidate should have been fired with cause from any previous city. He criticized the current city manager for refusing accountability regarding issues such as Buddy Trail, Watercrest, and other projects. He also questioned the $28,000 spent on a search firm, arguing the city's HR and communications departments should handle the recruitment. He demanded that taxpayer spending be tightly controlled and that the council do its own homework.
- Anka Negan asked the council to select a city manager who respects the U.S. Constitution, federal and state law, welcomes criticism, values transparency, and does not lie to the council. She referenced ongoing federal and state investigations into the city and recommended hiring someone with no connection to the current city leadership, to avoid potential conflict if wrongdoing is found.
- Jamie Carroll requested that the next city manager hold at least a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and have experience with a military-connected, growing city similar to Killeen. She stressed the need for a manager who maintains professional boundaries, does not forward complaints directly to department heads without investigation, and is not tied to current city staff or political scandals. She opposed the lack of public disclosure of candidates and criticized the city budget as vague and tax-increasing.
Key Outcomes
- Agenda approved (7-0).
- Executive session held under Texas Government Code §551.074 to discuss and review applications for the City Manager position (Agenda DS-26-078). The session lasted from approximately 1:10 PM to 4:10 PM.
- No action taken during the executive session. The meeting was adjourned by motion with a second, without further discussion.
Meeting Transcript
It is now 1 p.m. No. And I called the special city council meeting to order. All council members are present. And uh Councilmember Kimball will be given the invocation, and I will give the pledge allegiance. I ask each of you to pray in your faith as I pray in my precious Heavenly Father. We thank you for this gathering today as we take care of the business of the cities. We ask you to look over us, guide us, give us wisdom, give us guidance. We ask that each person here today uh take in the knowledge, share it, and and continue to bless the community as and and give us discernment as we make decisions that affect the city as a whole. In my Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Council, I need a motion to approve the agenda. Councilmember Brown. Move to approve the agenda. Councilmember Nash King. Second the motion. Uh any discussion. All in favor signify by saying yes. All opposed, no. Motion carries uh seven to zero. Thank you, Council. And thank you, Councilmember Kimball, for the invocation. Okay, now it's time for citizens' comments. Citizens will have three minutes to speak with one minute time allotted for the city council to respond with a statement or explanation without engaging in dialogue. Madam City Secretary, please call the names. First speaker is Michael Fornino. Good afternoon, sir. In your selection and review of resumes for candidates to replace the city manager. Not so much what is required. What is demanded well noted that I've pointed out several problems with our current city manager, while others fall all over his record what is needed and required as a city manager that will take accountability for his actions or her actions or inactions. I'll cite Buddy Trail, Watercrest, Rosa Hereford Center, Gilmer Street. Everybody's fault but his we've had contractors all over the city punching holes in the plumbing. And what do they do? They accelerate punching holes in the plumbing. His past record. Nothing is his fault. Here in his previous cities. I would encourage you all that whomever you get down to your final view on the selection. Do your homework. Because I think all of you should be familiar by now that I do mine. Person should not have been fired with cause from anything from any city anywhere at any time. Should be your first question to each and every one of them. Show proof of their work. Have them come to the chalkboard and say, I've done this, I have done that, or I have solved this or solved that. And I think it's also an insult to the taxpayer in this town. And to an extent, the city staff. We have spent, correct me on the figure, $28,000 to hire a firm to go look for a city manager. Do we not have an HR director in a city communications department? Are we not the 16th largest city in Texas? When are we going to start acting like it?
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