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Dixon to follow the Athenian Oath as interim city manager of Breckenridge

Wed, 10/07/2020 - 5:00 am
  • Dixon to follow the Athenian Oath as interim city manager of Breckenridge  
    Scott Dixon is the newest interim city manager for the City of Breckenridge. Dixon brings a plethora of years in experience as a city manager. BA photo by A.D. Chachere

“We will never bring disgrace on this, our City, by an act of dishonesty or cowardice.”

These are the word of the Athenian Oath, a sworn pledge made by Breckenridge’s newest interim city manager, Scott Dixon.

The City of Breckenridge announced Dixon as the newest interim city manager, and he comes to Breckenridge following a contract with Strategic Government Resources.

Dixon is a graduate of the University of North Texas, where he has a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies. His main focuses were Economics, Marketing, and Spanish, and later returned to college to obtain a Master’s in Public Administration.

I’m a tenured city manager,” Scott Dixon, Breckenridge’s interim city manager said. “I’ve been a city manager for almost ten years, and I believe having worked in Flatonia, Ennis and Westlake have prepared me to serve the city of Breckenridge.”

Dixon worked as the city manager for the cities of Flatonia and Ennis for a combined eight years. He also served as the budget and management analyst in the city of Westlake.

“Each one of those positions has given me some experience that I’ll be able to call on,” Dixon said. “The experience in Flatonia is similar where I had 18 employees. We were on very tight budget constraints and relied heavily on grants, which will provide some transferability between life in Flatonia and Breckenridge.”

Dixon brings a wealth of experience and knowledge on new ideas that he believes would benefit Breckenridge. Such ideas as a leakage report would aid in the longterm vitality of Breckenridge’s finances.

“Whenever I buy lunch using a MasterCard, they sell that data,” Dixon said. “If Ennis wanted to know how often I spend money outside of the town, they would conduct a report. The fact that I bought lunch at Ernie’s would show on the reports as dining outside of 75119(Ennis). We could do the same thing here and could find out for all the people who live here, what they are buying when they use their credit cards. It won’t show personal data, but it will show the quantity of items bought. That’s important because let’s say $400,000 is being spent on furniture outside of Breckenridge by residents of Breckenridge. It would tell us that there is a potential for a furniture store here for citizens to buy and shop local.”

Dixon also provided insight on the tax rate of the city and how he views his tenure in Breckenridge.

I’m concerned about the city’s tax rate, Dixon said. “We’re at $1.12, so I’ll look at ways to create additional tax revenue without raising the tax rate. I think they want me to use my experience to look at what they have, suggest solutions, and potentially prepare the way for the next city manager. I’ll put together a road map of things to do to get the city on the right path.”

During the Tuesday, September 1 City Commissioners meeting, commissioners took action on accepting an offer for financial assistance from the Breckenridge Industrial Foundation and agreed to contract Strategic Government Resources.

The foundation will cover the $150,000 cost of financing a new interim city manager, and the city commissioners formed an advisory committee to review interim city manager candidates from SGR.

According to the Strategic Government Resource firms website, the purpose of the firm is to “help local governments become more successful by recruiting, assessing, and developing innovative, collaborative, authentic leaders.”

Dixon will be tasked with repairing the City of Breckenridge financially and provide new innovative ways for the city to succeed. It is his usage of the Athenian Oath, that will advance the City of Breckenridge.

“Thus, in all these ways, we will transmit this City not only, not less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.”

“I love working with small towns in Texas,” Dixon said. “It’s not quite geographically where I want to be permanently and I’ve told the mayor and the commission that. It’s not for lack of pay or love of the job, I would love it here in Breckenridge. I just hope to leave Breckenridge better than how I found it.”