By Tim Fleischer
Editor-in-Chief

Village of Salado aldermen may announce a Lone Finalist for Village Adminstrator following an executive session at the end of its 6 p.m. May 21 meeting. Local citizens had a chance to meet four candidates for the position at a reception at The Venue at 9 a.m. May 14. Each candidate had a chance to introduce themselves followed by question-and-answer session. Candidates for the position are John Benson, Chad Foster, Greg Hutson and Jose Rivera.

John Benson

John Benson has 30 years experience in municipal government, including being a city planner and city manager. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Planning from Iowa State University.
He was a City Manager in southwest Missouri before launching his own consulting business.
His LinkedIn says he has “Demonstrated expertise in government operations, capital improvement programming, financial management and budgeting, community engagement, planning and development, project management, infrastructure strategy, economic development, and organizational branding and marketing.”

Chad Foster

Chad Foster spent 27 years in the U.S. Army with three stations at Fort Hood.
One of those was Commander of the US Army Garrison in 2021-23. His duties there, he said, “were basically the same as a city manager of a medium-sized city in Texas.”
Foster was also Chief of Staff for the US III Armored Corps at Fort Cavazos in 20-23-24.
His last duty was a Deputy Commandant at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
A West Point Graduate himself, he is also a distinguished graduate of National War College with an M.S. in National Security Strategy and a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College with a M.A. in National Security Policy Studies.

Greg Hutson

Greg Hutson currently works under contract as the manager of Martindale. Prior to that he was City Manager of Gilmer for nine years where he oversaw all city departments, including an airport, parks, code enforcement, police, fire, finance, municipal, utility billing, public works, water, sewer, human resources and economic development. He received the GFOA CAFR Award for financial reporting.
He consulted with Richard Sherman CPA in Arlington.
He was the city administrator of Sansom Park from Oct. 2013 to Aug. 2016 and oversaw a public/private partnership of a $75 million development in a TIF district.

José Rivera

Jose Rivera is a retired Bridgadier General who now calls Salado home.
“We have four generations living in Salado,” he said, including his grandchildren. “This is home.”
He retired after more than 30 years in the Army. He had leadership roles with U.S. Army Central, U.S. Central Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command and the Texas National Guared.
He is a graduate of West Point with a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He hold a Master of Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.
He is the Founder and Principal of R1 and Associates.
“I’ve spent my life leading in environments where the stakes were high, the conditions uncertain and people mattered,” he stated on his LinkedIn profile.
They took questions on balancing growth while keeping the culture of Salado; protecting the environment and the Salado Creek; code enforcement; Economic Development Agreements and Public Improvement Districts and Main Street programs.
Following the question session, they met with the 30 residents who attended the reception that morning.