By Roda Grubb
“McAllen is one of the best cities in Texas, with a community full of leaders… people look to this community for leadership in every aspect of what we do.” – Roy Rodriguez
How did a kid from the Harlingen Housing Authority with a name like Roel end up as the City Manager for a booming city like McAllen? The answer is easy; the task was hard. The answer? Grit, determination, tenacity, a mountain full of hard work, and a family that encouraged him every step of the way.
Born in the Valley and raised in Harlingen, Roel “Roy” Rodriguez came from humble beginnings. Number six of nine children, he lost his birth mother at four and was lucky when his dad remarried a wonderful woman who easily stepped into the role of mother for this youngster.
Life was tough, but Roy was never a quitter. Getting involved in sports, he found his true love in baseball.
“I loved baseball and was really good at it. I was a hitter number one, because I always, always had a base hit; it was easy for me. The reason is very simple,” he laughed as the memories rolled in. “When we were young, our toys included hitting rocks with sticks. After that, you can do wonders with a bat and a baseball.”
It could safely be stated that Rodriguez would have made baseball his life had it not been for a dad with bigger dreams in store for his son. “You need to decide what you’re going to do because you are going to college,” he said to the son who had worked as a carpenter’s helper since he was 10 years old.
“Good,” said Rodriguez. “How am I going to pay for it?” “I don’t know, but you’re going to go”, his father replied. There was no question in his father’s mind.
By becoming a Civil Engineer with a Bachelor’s of Science degree at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville), he proved his father right. With the strong work ethics he developed working throughout his school years, he wasted no time in starting his professional career.
Two weeks after graduating, Rodriguez went to work for the Department of Transportation in Oklahoma where he stayed for almost six years, his last position in Oklahoma’s panhandle.
“It’s a Sunday afternoon. I get a call from a friend of mine who’s sitting in Oklahoma City saying,
‘Hey, I’m reading the Dallas Morning News and there’s an opening in Harlingen, Texas. Isn’t that where you’re from?’ ”
“Yeah, I’m from Harlingen. What’s the position?”
“It’s the City Engineer for your hometown,” the friend said.
“What are the odds of a guy in Oklahoma City calling me 350 miles away, reading the Dallas Morning news about a position in Harlingen? It doesn’t happen!”
But it did, and the job brought Rodriguez back to the Valley where he’s mostly stayed ever since.
“What I quickly discovered was my ability to communicate with anyone, be it the president of an engineering company, a bank, or the laborers for the city,” said Rodriguez.
Making good use of this gift and his engineering background brought him to a turning point in his career when he became Assistant, then interim, and finally City Manager for Harlingen.
Inspired, Rodriguez obtained his Master’s in Public Administration at UTPA and found the career he was meant to have. After 10 years leading McAllen’s Public Utility, he feels he’s hit the jackpot.
“I feel it’s in part due to working up through the ranks in Harlingen, then McAllen. In this position you have to be able to interact with the community, business people, commercial establishments, contractors, and understand contracts. We deal with so many highly technical things in this job, whether it’s infrastructure, roads, drainage, curb, gutter, water, sewer, or power. I don’t have to be an expert because I have a lot of experts working for me, but you’ve got to understand what it’s all about,” Rodriguez said.
Extending his networking for McAllen, he holds positions on the Rio Grande Water Authority, appointed by Governor Rick Perry; is on the Texas Municipal Retirement System board; and continues on the Groundwater Committee for the Rio Grande, to name a few. No surprises have surfaced for Rodriguez since taking the position.
“This is the job I knew it was going to be. It’s a lot of work, day in
and day out.” Looking at his long list of duties on the city’s website, that is a mild understatement. Nonetheless, Rodriguez believes McAllen is the place to be.
“McAllen is one of the best cities in Texas, with a community full of leaders. If you’re not a leader when you take a position, you’re going to become one or you’re going to fail because people look to this community for leadership in every aspect of what we do.”
In working with the mayor and city commission, he finds his goals change.
“My goals have to change or adapt. The elected officials are the ones who decide policy and we implement that policy. It’s also our job to bring them good ideas and explain why things may or may not work.”
As a Civil Engineer, Rodriguez is greatly suited to complete that task.
“Civil Engineers are trained not only to design things, but to solve problems. My brain is trained to always begin with the end in mind. When somebody says, ‘I’ve got this issue,’ by the time they’re finishing their paragraph, I’m thinking of how I’m going to solve that problem. Those initials behind my name, PE or Professional Engineer meaning I have a license, are the biggest accomplishment I’ve ever had.”
“You have to love public service and you have to be a little insane,” he laughed. “You have to be able to go home every day, realizing you did something good that day for somebody, that you impacted people’s lives in a positive way because… we impact people’s lives every single day.”
Reprinted by Texas Border Business with permission granted by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. TBB
