Documents Shed Light on City Manager's Resignation

Performance evaluations obtained by NBCDFW shed light onto the events leading up to the resignation of McKinney city manager Frank Ragan. 

Ragan abruptly resigned June 8 a day after her annual performance review in a closed session of city council.

The city would not comment as to why Ragan left.   Mayor Brian Loughmiller released a statement that said:

"On behalf of each member of the City Council, we all thank Mr. Ragan for his services to the city.   While we believe that a new direction is necessary for the city of McKinney, we certainly are appreciative of Mr. Ragan's efforts and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Ragan had spent two years as the city manager of McKinney.

NBCDFW obtained Ragan’s review using the Texas Open Records Act.   In it, council members considered Ragan to be a “complicated individual.”   And, although the consensus was Ragan was intelligent and competent, he needed to work on his bedside manners.

His review listed the former city manager as being distant and isolated from his staff.  The document said his updates to council aren’t consistent and “people don’t know where we are going or why.”

Under a heading labeled “LEADER,” the review states that, while Ragan does a good job with the budget and trying to lead his team in the right direction, he has an inability to motivate and tends to have a negative outlook.

It was “unpredictable which “Frank” will walk in the door.”

In the same page entitled “INSPIRING TRUST/PERSONAL INTEGRITY”, Ragan’s review states he has never been questioned for his ethics or his honesty, but it seems no one trusts him.

The city is still without a city manager since Ragan’s exit.

“I believe the idea is that council will hire an outside consulting firm to search for a new city manager,” city spokesperson Anna Folmnsbee said.  

That item has not yet been voted on by council.

In the interim, deputy city managers Jim Parrish and Rick Chaffin are performing the duties of city manager.

Ragan was not immediately available for comment Monday morning.

According to information provided by the city at the time of his resignation, Ragan started in March, 2008 as city manager of McKinney.   He was previously deputy city manager for 12 years in Aurora, Colo., near Denver.

He has worked in city government for over 30 years, the city said.