Kilgore city manager chooses new career path ahead of retirement

KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) – It’s not all that unusual for a city manager to resign for a new job. But one East Texas city manager isn’t leaving for a job in a larger city, he’s created a completely different path, literally.

Josh Selleck has been Kilgore City Manager for nearly a decade. Although he notified the city over a year ago that he would be retiring, he recently set a date, according to Kilgore mayor Ronnie Spradlin.

“We had so many big projects that were at a crucial point he said he’d stay on until he finished all those. So, then he thought it’d be 90 or 100 days, but it’s been about 16 months,” Spradlin said.

The mayor says at first, they didn’t have much luck finding the right fit for a new city manager.

“And then you can’t search during an election because no one wants to be hired by people that may not be reelected or run for election,” Spradlin said.

So, although Selleck had started his own business, he stayed with the city while they searched for a replacement and to see the projects through. But something happened while working on a Kilgore project completed several years ago: the BigHead Creek Bike Trail.

“That was all volunteer work, but people asked us to come and help with their trails. And we’re all over now building trails in multiple states and designing trails for big cities in Texas. It’s been a strange evolution but it’s something that I’m really passionate about; it’s those quality-of-life projects,” Selleck said.

And Vanguard Trailworks was born, from a love of mountain biking with his family. But before that:

“There was an international symposium on path building, trail building in Bentonville Arkansas, He went up there on his own time, his own money and brought back all the top knowledge and the top techniques in the world,” Spradlin said.

And now Selleck has projects in Utah, near Houston, College Station and others in the works.

“It’s a wild ride, that’s for sure. The private world is very different than the government world,” Selleck said.

Selleck’s last day is Aug. 29. The interim Kilgore City Manager is Public Works Director Clay Evers. Mayor Spradlin says they now have about 50 applicants who have applied for the city manager position.

Josh Selleck has served as city manager for Kilgore for more than nine years, and he says there will be a lot to miss about the job after his retirement.

KLTV’s Jamey Boyum talks with Kilgore Mayor Ronnie Spradlin about Kilgore City Manager Josh Selleck’s retirement.

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