In late June, the Argyle Town Council approved an agreement with Erika McComis to serve as town’s interim town administrator and town secretary.
McComis is no stranger to Argyle Town Hall, where she worked as town secretary, then assistant town administrator, for a total of almost three years until she was hired as Breckendridge’s city manager in August 2021. The position of Argyle town manager/administrator has been a bit of a revolving door the past five years, and McComis briefly held the position on an interim basis in 2020 before Rich Olson was hired.
“I enjoyed my time working here,” McComis said. “I loved Breckenridge, but I had to return home for personal reasons and found out about the openings in Argyle.”
The council ended Olson’s contract on May 31, and then that same week, Argyle’s town secretary and assistant town secretary resigned, leaving a large void in the town’s administration.
“We needed somebody after the abrupt dismissal of Rich Olson,” said Mayor Bryan Livingston. “Erika got in touch with me and said things had changed for her, and she was available to come on board to support us while we’re looking for permanent hires … She’s a very well qualified and gifted professional public servant.”
McComis is filling in as the town administrator, town secretary and finance manager at an annual rate of $125,000 until the town makes permanent hires. McComis said she is interested in the permanent positions, and she’s staying busy trying to get the town’s budget done and make several hires.
“We’re too short-handed right now,” McComis said. “I can’t give individual tasks the focus they need.”
Livingston said the town has already received applications from “some highly qualified people” for the town administrator job. It’ll up to Town Council to decide how the search process will move forward, which may include hiring a professional search firm. The town is also advertising job openings for permit clerk, communications coordinator, streets and wastewater maintenance worker, finance manager and equipment operator.
