The Clear Voice

The City of Shenandoah, Texas, is searching for its next Chief of Police, and this opportunity offers much more than the city's two-square-mile footprint might suggest. In this episode of PositionCast™, host James Groom welcomes Mayor John Escoto and retiring Police Chief Troye Dunlap for an inside look at the Shenandoah Police Department, its proactive approach to law enforcement, and the leaders...

Bridgeport, Texas is looking for its next City Manager, and this episode gives candidates a look beyond the job posting. Mayor Susan Coffman and Place 5 Councilmember Matt Van Hoose join James Groom to talk about the organization, the relationship between the City Manager and Council, the growth underway in Bridgeport, and the kind of leader they believe can build on the momentum already in place....

The City of McKinney, Texas is searching for the next Executive Director of Visit McKinney, the city’s convention and visitors bureau. In this PositionCast, James Groom is joined by McKinney City Manager Paul Grimes, Visit McKinney Board member Brian Medina, and Clear Career Professionals President Michael Boese to give prospective candidates a closer look at the opportunity. The conversation cove...

The City of Lubbock is searching for its next Director of Utilities, and this role sits at the center of one of the city’s most critical operations. In this PositionCast episode of The Clear Voice, James Groom is joined by Lubbock Assistant City Manager Erik Rejino to discuss the scale of the utility system, the leadership profile the City is seeking, the organization’s long-range water strategy,...

Messer Fort is growing, and that growth is creating four opportunities for attorneys who want to build their careers serving Texas cities. In this episode of The Clear Voice, James Groom sits down with Andy Messer, Julie Fort, and Patricia Adams of Messer Fort, along with Clear Career Professionals President Michael Boese, to talk about the firm, its culture, and what makes municipal law such a un...

What happens when leadership experience forged in the military is carried into local government? In this episode of The Clear Voice, James Groom talks with Alana Lake, City Manager of Helena, Montana, about her path from military leadership and counterintelligence to managing a state capital. Alana shares how her military experience shaped the way she thinks about leadership, trust, accountability...

Trust is not simply a leadership quality. It is the infrastructure supporting everything else in an organization. In this episode of The Clear Voice, James Groom and James Hopper are joined by Dr. Gearl Loden, superintendent of Nixa Public Schools, executive coach, and author of Before It Breaks: The Seven Pillars of Trust Every Leader Must Build. Gearl explains how trust erodes through small inco...

In Episode #84 of The Clear Voice, James Groom sits down with Dee Maddox, founder of DMX Consulting, to talk about leadership, communication, workforce development, and what it really takes to lead people through change. Dee brings more than 30 years of experience working with people and organizations, including a long federal career and service with NASA during the transition of the Space Shuttle...

In this PositionCast™, James Groom is joined by Sansom Park Mayor Jim Barnett to discuss the city’s search for its next Chief of Police. Mayor Barnett shares his background in Sansom Park, law enforcement, and public administration, along with what candidates can expect from the community, City Council, and city leadership. The conversation also covers the police department’s accreditation, Drone...

Dr. Wes Blair, Chief of Police at Memphis International Airport, joins The Clear Voice to talk about his career across multiple states, the move from traditional municipal policing into airport law enforcement, and why wellness has to start at the top. Wes shares how airport policing is still police work, but in a very different environment with travelers, tenants, airlines, federal regulations, s...

The City of Frisco, Texas, is searching for its next Fire Chief. In this PositionCast™, James Groom and Clear Career Professionals President Michael Boese are joined by Frisco City Manager Wes Pierson, Deputy City Manager E.A. Hoppe, and Interim Fire Chief Clay Carpenter for an inside look at the department, the community, and what Frisco needs from its next fire service leader. Frisco’s next chie...

Organizations spend enormous time and money developing leaders, but how much attention do we give to developing better followers? Rick Chambers, author of Inspired: A Story of Leading, Following, and Changing and creator of Followership Works, joins James Groom to explore why followership may be one of the most overlooked pieces of organizational success. Rick explains how strong followers use cri...

The City of Denison, Texas, is searching for its next Director of Development Services during a period of significant growth and development. In this PositionCast™, Interim City Manager Renee’  Waggoner discusses the opportunity, Denison’s leadership culture, the Development Services team, and what the successful candidate will need to bring to the role. Topics include: • Leading planning and zoni...

The City of Rowlett, Texas is searching for its next City Manager. In this PositionCast™, Rowlett Mayor Jeff Winget joins James Groom, The Clear Voice host, and Michael Boese, President of Clear Career Professionals and lead recruiter for the search, for an in depth conversation about the community, the organization, and the leadership opportunity ahead. Rowlett is a community of nearly 70,000 res...

This episode is dedicated to Zackery Mehlman, July 19, 2004 to March 22, 2021, and the more than 350,000 lives lost to the opioid crisis. May their memories strengthen our commitment to preventing further loss. This episode includes discussions of mental health, substance abuse, fentanyl, overdose deaths, and family trauma. Listener discretion is advised. A community crisis cannot be solved by one...

Ben Jarrett has spent his career around water, first as a professional bass fisherman, then in the boating industry, and now as a Regional Sales Director for Next Meters USA. In this episode of The Clear Voice, Ben joins James Groom to discuss his unconventional career journey and the lessons he learned from fishing, competition, hard work, and conservation. The conversation then moves into the ch...

What if a city could inspect roads, drainage systems, water tanks, utilities, and other hard-to-reach infrastructure faster, safer, and with more detail than a traditional field survey? In this episode of The Clear Voice, Host James Groom talks with Craig Kerkhoff, PE and Dr. Robert Hendricks of Birkhoff, Hendricks & Carter, LLP about how LiDAR, drones, remote sensing, 3D mapping, and artifici...

In Episode #74 of The Clear Voice, host James Groom sits down with Justin Atherton, President of Training and Operations at Proactive Leadership, bestselling author of How to Get to the Damn Point, and a nationally recognized leadership and investigative interviewing instructor. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience in corrections, patrol, investigations, SWAT, supervision, and leadership de...

In this episode of The Clear Voice, we highlight the Chief of Police opportunity in Pampa, Texas. Host and recruiter James Groom visits with City Manager Shane Stokes and Assistant City Manager Dustin Miller about the community, the police department, the city’s leadership culture, and the type of servant leader Pampa is seeking for its next Chief of Police. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the Pam...

Denison, Texas is searching for its next City Manager, and this PositionCast™ gives candidates a closer look at the community, council, staff, and leadership environment behind the opportunity. In this episode of The Clear Voice, host James Groom is joined by Mayor Robert Crawley and Clear Career Professionals President Michael Boese to discuss Denison’s historic character, award-winning downtown,...

In this episode of The Clear Voice, James Groom sits down with Matt Wright, Human Resources Director for the City of Buda, Texas, to talk about employee retention, organizational culture, and the human side of public service. Matt brings a unique perspective to the conversation after transitioning from a long career with the Austin Police Department into municipal HR. The discussion explores why g...

In this episode of The Clear Voice, guests Debbie Munoz, Executive Director of the Texas Municipal Retirement System, Dan Wattles, former TMRS Director of Governmental Relations, and Michael Boese, President of Clear Career Professionals, join host James Groom to discuss an important executive leadership opportunity with TMRS. TMRS is recruiting for its next Director of Governmental Relations, a r...

La Marque, Texas is looking for its next City Manager. In this PositionCast™, Mayor Keith Bell joins The Clear Voice host James Groom and Clear Career Professionals recruiters Brad Stafford and James Hopper to discuss the opportunity, the community, the council’s priorities, and the leadership qualities needed for La Marque’s next chapter. Known as the Gateway to the Gulf, La Marque sits along the...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Jim Devlin, we pick up with his transition from Police Chief to Assistant City Manager and what that move has taught him about leadership, succession planning, relationships, and service beyond the badge. Jim talks about the natural progression from leading a department to helping lead an organization, the importance of collaboration across city departments, and...

In this episode of The Clear Voice, James Groom and Michael Boese sit down with Bryan Lockerby to discuss leadership, law enforcement, city management, organizational assessments, and the lessons learned from more than four decades of public service. Bryan shares perspective from his career in Montana law enforcement, including leading the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation, working with r...