Troy Gay
Mark Schauer
Troy Gay and Rich Guajardo, both from Austin, and Mark Schauer from Corpus Christi â all with more than 30 years in their current departments â join Interim Chief Keith Lane, formerly of Haltom City, near Fort Worth, as finalists for the position.
âWe were pleased to see such a strong field of diverse and qualified candidates,â City Manager Robert Camareno said of the four who made the final cut to succeed Tom Wibert, who retired Oct. 2 after 10 years leading the New Braunfels Police Department.
The cityâs national search began in November. Assisting was Keller-based Strategic Government
Resources, an executive recruitment firm that helped whittle the field from 62 applicants.Â
Tom Purdum, who was serving as the New Braunfels chamber CEO at the time, hired Meek to serve as director of the Greater New Braunfels Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“I had the opportunity fortunately, for me to come in at the ground floor and mentor and learn under him,” Meek said. “I tell people I learned more under him than I learned in college, . learned more from him about the chamber business, the tourism business and the economic development business.”
During his time with the chamber of commerce, Meek oversaw the creation of the Central Texas Technology Center, a major expansion and remodeling of the New Braunfels Civic and Convention Center, the development of the Leadership New Braunfels program and efforts to bring more jobs to the community.