Texas city manager discusses motivation, mentorship at WLG event

Opal Mauldin-Jones, the city manager in Lancaster, Texas, discussed overcoming adversity, balancing family and career, and the value of mentorship in a conversation with Needham Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick held during Connect 351.

At a special Women Leading Government session on Jan. 23, Mauldin-Jones, the first woman city manager in Lancaster, discussed her career path and encouraged attendees to “be available” to those they can mentor.

“The best mentors I had never gave me answers,” she said. “They challenged me with the questions they asked.”

A Texas native, Mauldin-Jones attended the University of Texas, Arlington, for undergraduate and graduate education, and began her public service career working in the office of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, who represented Texas’ 30th Congressional District until her death in 2023 at age 89.

During Mauldin-Jones’ first semester of college, she wrote a paper on Johnson and had an opportunity to visit her office and meet her. That meeting led to an internship offer and, ultimately, a full-time job offer, conditional upon Mauldin-Jones maintaining good grades.

She later met with Lancaster city staff, who encouraged her to apply for an assistant city manager position. When she wasn’t hired, she applied for and got a community relations coordinator position.

“I’m not sure what a traditional path is,” Mauldin-Jones said of her public service career. “I don’t know if anybody would say I came to this job from a traditional path.”

On the topics of balancing work with family obligations, and not being sure that you’re ready to take the next step in your career, Mauldin-Jones said confidence is critical to moving up while finding balance.

“I wasn’t ready to be an assistant city manager,” Mauldin-Jones said. “I had no clue what an assistant city manager does. When I applied, I told [the city manager], ‘One day, I want your job. I literally want to be the city manager.’”

“Every time there was any project, it didn’t matter what it was, I said, ‘I’ll do it,’” she continued.

Mauldin-Jones added that she had a support system that could help her to manage her personal commitments. She said her children would often be in her office while she attended city council meetings, and her council understood from the start that, “When you get me, you get the family.”

She emphasized communication with staff and city officials as well as family, to make expectations clear from the get-go.

“It’s really important that one communicates,” she said. “The right community will accept those conditions and support you.”

Mauldin-Jones, who’s held her job since 2011, said she values professional development, an item that she told the city council is untouchable in the budget.

“With limited resources and abilities to provide services, one thing you can never touch is our professional development,” she said. “That’s where you get new ideas, that’s where you can get creative.”

The city hosts a one-day professional development conference for staff called Lancaster University. The city shuts down for a day, typically the Friday before a school vacation, and hosts meals, keynote speakers, breakout sessions, workshops, and an exhibit hall featuring municipal vendors.

“If you’re not learning, you’re not growing, and if you’re not growing, you’re dying,” Mauldin-Jones said. “My council has belief in that, they support it, and it allows us to continue to invest at every level of our organization.”

During a question and answer session, Mauldin-Jones discussed developing a workforce that reflects the community, and highlighted a city-wide “blind” hiring program that strips out all identifying information to remove unconscious bias from the hiring process.

She also discussed building a workplace culture.

“You have to have the ability to laugh and find joy in service,” she said, adding that Lancaster hosts recreational and cultural events for employees to help them get to know each other outside of work.

“If you never get to fellowship together as an organization, and you never get that time to get to know each other outside of the task that we’re doing, it’s very difficult to build a relationship,” she said.

Women Leading Government also hosts an annual conference in March and other meetings throughout the year.