Barnes takes on role as Linden’s new city manager

Stephen Barnes who took the job on December 9 begins to settle into his new role both as the Linden City Manager, and the Economic Developer. He is taking over for Lee Elliott who recently was offered a job in his hometown of Bowie County.

Barnes who “graduated from Hughes Springs High School, received a Bachelor’s degree from UT-Tyler and Master’s degree from Texas A&M Texarkana.

“I was in public education for 15 years at Hughes Springs and Jefferson as a teacher, coach, then administrator. I’ve worked in municipal sales, particularly for a company that specializes in providing asset management and evaluation solutions for city wastewater systems. My territory included all of Texas and Louisiana. I was also the City Manager/EDC Director in Hughes Springs,” said Barnes.

Barnes said he was attracted to the position because he always “held the Linden community in high regard as a place of history, pride, and potential. There has been some positive momentum created over the last few years, specifically in regard to water, streets and drainage infrastructure. I hope we can build on that momentum in other areas like wastewater infrastruc- ture, community development, and economic development.”

When asked about the challenges he faces taking on the new roles he said, “I see a lot of the challenges that most rural communities face. During my previous occupation, I worked with cities throughout Texas and Louisiana and realized that most municipalities have similar issues, specifically rural ones. Aging infrastructure and shrinking population are two that really come to mind. Those two overarching issues impact communities in a lot of ways. But instead of dwelling on the negatives, I like to try to build on the positives. As we have improved water, wastewater, streets and drainage, the goal is to continue to improve through community development, economic development and downtown revitalization. “