City of Cleveland narrows city manager search to final candidate

After months of recruiting and interviewing candidates, Cleveland City Council has offered a contract for the city manager position to Scott Swigert, who most recently was the assistant city manager for the City of Mont Belvieu in neighboring Chambers County.

According to Cleveland Mayor Richard Boyett, Council met Tuesday morning, Sept. 27, to conduct a final interview of Swigert and all council members voted in favor of offering him a contract.

As a young child, Swigert lived in the Spring Branch area and moved to College Station when he was in the seventh grade where he attended A&M Consolidated High School. While in high school, he met his future wife, Jennifer. The two married 10 years later and now have three sons.

Swigert went on to attend Blinn Junior College before transferring into Texas A&M University where he earned a bachelors degree in Recreation Parks and Tourism Sciences.

“That led me into my parks and recreation background. I have 20 years of experience in parks and recreation with the cities of Brenham, Midland and Deer Park. While I was in Midland, I began working on my masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. I finished my masters degree while working in Deer Park,” Swigert said.

In 2017, he accepted a job in administration for the City of Mont Belvieu and worked as assistant city manager for five and a half years. While there, he was active with the community through the chamber of commerce and community organizations. He is a member of the Texas City Managers Association and the International City Managers Association. Most recently, he was president of the West Chambers County Chamber of Commerce.

Swigert told Bluebonnet News that he is grateful for the opportunity to work for the City of Cleveland, and is looking forward to the new challenge.

“With the expansion of US 59/I-69 and the Grand Parkway, there is a lot of growth coming to the Cleveland area. People are moving to the area and it will continue to grow. With that kind of growth, the City needs to be in front of it. That way you can get the growth you want and it doesn’t just happen to you,” he said.

Swigert must be formally approved by Cleveland City Council. A special meeting is being called for Monday, Oct. 3, at which time Council is expected to approve the contract.