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Russell
Marble Falls resident George Russell steps away from his service on the Lower Colorado River Authority board with a great sense of accomplishment as well as confidence in the direction of the entity’s stewardship of the river basin.
Russell, whose LCRA at-large term expired this year, served three terms as mayor of Marble Falls starting in 2009 to 2015. He previously served as the city manager of Georgetown, 1998 to 2002, and then as the city manager of Marble Falls, 2002 to 2008.
He offered a personal reflection about his tenure at LCRA and service within communities as well as what his future may hold.
Q: What was it like serving on the LCRA for so many years?
A: “It’s such a diverse organization. You ranged from water to electricity to broadband to parks. It was never boring. I liked getting out in the community, talking with cities, talking with organizations, seeing the parks and then doing the difficult stuff of making the decisions on things.
Q: You promoted good stewardship of conservation as well as advocated for support and resources for first responders. Why are those two areas so critical?
A: “A community is made up of a bunch of parts. A community thrives if all the parts work together. You’ve got to have the emergency care folks with the equipment to answer calls. You need to have community centers that people can go to. It’s all part of it. If you don’t have that, you don’t have a complete community.”
Q: What did you see as strides – programs, policies, platforms – that you saw develop over the time that you were on the board?
A: “I’ve known LCRA for 20 years. I got my first city manager job in Georgetown because the then city manager wanted to be general manager of LCRA. He left. I got promoted, so that was a positive. I got to see things like pricing on water, pricing on electricity. Things along those lines that affect the city. If the pricing in LCRA is not correct, the price that the city has to charge you is not correct.”
Q: What do you see as the challenges that this area will face because of the demand on the Colorado River Basin?
A: “The LCRA has to look at the basin as a whole – not just the upper basin or the lower basin. They have to look at the Colorado River Basin as a whole. Everyone may not get what they want. In this ‘it’s all about me’ society, for those folks it causes a little bit of problems. You’ve got growth, you’ve got to get power to where it can be distributed. You’ve got to have water. If you don’t keep all that balanced basin-wide, you will have problems … LCRA has got to continue finding other sources of water and ways to hold water to help the entire basin.”
Q: With your own diverse portfolio, why did you think it was important to not only serve on the LCRA board but over the years, participate in non-profits such as Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center and service organizations like the Rotary Club?
A: “When I got out of college, I went to work for the state health department. I was the one they sent out to chase hurricanes and to work with emergency medical services and so forth. If you do that for a while you work with the communities, you see the needs out there, community service gets in your blood. As you grow and mature in your career, you have opportunities to help communities as it goes.”
Q: The Marble Falls community, where you served for many years as mayor and city manager, appears to be where your heart is. What are your thoughts about the community?
A: “I love Marble Falls and the whole area here. I stayed here after being mayor and city manager. I like how the communities work together. I was one of the first ones who reached out to Burnet and had lunch with people there. That shocked people (because of the storied sports rivalry between the two cities). The Hill Country is just a large community. They have to work together and help each other out, pass on information.”
Q: What are you and your wife Cynthia going to embark on as your tenure with the LCRA board ends?
A: “That’s a $64 question right now. We had big plans of doing some traveling over the past years. COVID took care of that. It paused it. We’re going to do some traveling, and quite frankly, we’re just going to enjoy each other’s company, and see what comes down the road. I’ve already told the museum here (Falls on the Colorado Museum) that I would be a docent, so I’m going to do that at least one day a week. I’ve had some job opportunities, but I’m not ready for that. I want to be a little picky, but there will be volunteerism in my future.”
Q: What are your thoughts about the community and state leaders you’ve worked with over the past several years?
A: “The common thread is caring for what you do. I’ve always had some people around me who were mentors. They cared about what they were doing. They were willing to sacrifice to get things done. My term was up in June. As an at-large appointee, I could not be re-appointed. The departure from LCRA was the nicest departure I’ve ever had. They threw a dinner at the Headliners Club in Austin, and I got roasted, of course. Cynthia said she never laughed so hard in all her life. At the board meeting (Aug. 18), I was given some nice mementoes of my service which I will hang proudly in my house. We’ll be around. I’ll be roaming Main Street.”