Littlefield City Manager Mitch Grant will retire this year, on Jan. 31, after eight years of service.
Before devoting himself to the City of Littlefield, Grant spent his previous years as an inspector code enforcement officer, public works director and city manager for other Texas cities. He worked for 40 years.
“My first job out of college was to work for the city of Desota,” Grant said.
Grant graduated from Texas Tech University in 1982 with an engineering degree. His degree ultimately gave him the background knowledge needed to succeed in his role as city manager.
“I believe it’s helped me quite a bit,” Grant said.
Grant’s degree allowed him to understand different city projects.
“We’ve made a lot of improvements to the city,” Grant said. “The thing I’m most proud of is the swimming pool.”
The Littlefield Aquatic Center began construction in 2019 and finished around 2020.
The City of Littlefield found it “hard to make ends meet,” before Grant became city manager. A financial plan was set in motion to relieve its financial instability. He gives credit to the city council and mayor for the improvements.
Another project Grant highlighted was the dilapidated structure program. The City of Littlefield began seizing abandoned property to tear down.
“We’ve seized a lot of tax property and cleaned them up and got them back on the tax roll,” Grant said.
His career began in Desoto, Texas in 1984 as an inspector code enforcement officer. Grant worked for eight cities, Desoto, Morton, Slaton, Pampa, Andrews, Vernon and Littlefield. In 2015, Grant retired as the city manager of the City of Vernon. In 2016 he decided to retire from retirement to return to work in Littlefield, near where he was born and raised.
“I thought it would be a great thing to move back to the area that I grew up in,” Grant said.
He was born and raised in Whitharral, Texas located in Hockley County.
After 40 years of public service in Texas, Grant looks forward to spending his retirement with his wife Joy and his children Jordan and Spencer.
“Our plan is to move closer to our grandkids,” Grant said.
His grandchildren live in northern Oklahoma where he plans to focus on his hobbies and family.
Now, Grant had the “rare opportunity” to work with the incoming city manager, Ray Resendez for two months.
“I’ve been very impressed with him,” Grant said.
Resendez has a similar life experience to Grant. He looks forward to the different things he’ll do.
“I’m really excited about him taking over and being able to finish the projects that we have ongoing and look forward to seeing things that they [city council] come up with him as city manager,” Grant said.
To celebrate Grant’s years of service, the city threw him a retirement party at Loco’s Restaurant and Bar on Jan. 15, 2025.