Highland Haven swears in city secretary
Highland Haven Municipal Judge Don Adams swears in Jeff Lederer as the new city secretary during the Board of Aldermen regular meeting July 20. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The city of Highland Haven has a new city secretary. Jeff Lederer took his oath of office during the regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen on July 20.
His first day at City Hall is Monday, July 26.
Before Lederer’s swearing-in, Mayor Olan Kelley told him the city “has plenty for him to do.”
“He was very interested and extremely interested in the position,” Kelley said. “He did his homework and indicated an interest in serving our community.”
Lederer’s role is to provide staff support to the mayor, aldermen, and the Planning and Zoning Commission as well as serve as the elections administrator for municipal elections, coordinate and administer each regular and special municipal election, serve as the court clerk for the Municipal Court, and manage the official records of the city in accordance with the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s Records Retention Schedule.
Jeannie Gruetzner resigned as city secretary in mid-May. The position had been posted since June and drew 20 applicants. Five were interviewed by a panel, Kelley said.
The mayor credited Lederer’s accounting and management degrees as well as his management background for why he was the city’s choice.
“He can multitask and can weave policies and procedures together,” Kelley said. “It looked like he would work well with our community.”
The city secretary and administrative assistant are the only two paid city staffers.
“Running without a city secretary has kept us running without,” Kelley said. “We had to pick up the workload, and it took us away from other workloads. City secretaries are a critical part of any city. There’s a lot of things they have to do. He’s one-half of our permanent staff.”