Frisco City Manager leaves groundbreaking legacy as he enters retirement

That little town was Frisco, Texas.

“You know, it kind of looks like they’ve done some annexation,” Purefoy told his wife. “It looks like they’re kind of on the path of growth.”

Purefoy had been serving as City Manager for the city of Columbus, Texas, for about seven years. That night, he and Debra both prayed that God would lead them to a town that had growth potential in north Texas.

One week later, Purefoy received a letter in the mail inviting him to apply for the City Manager position in Frisco.

“So you make of that what you will,” Purefoy said. “I don’t know where else I could have gone where I could have experienced more growth potential than Frisco had.”

It’s a story that has been told before, but it’s one that is especially poignant as Purefoy, who turned 70 this month, prepares to retire from his role on June 30. His departure marks the end of over 34 years with Frisco, a tenure highlighted by milestone moments that have taken Frisco from a small town to a city that has drawn national attention for its big wins.

In the year since Purefoy’s retirement was first announced, Frisco has been both preparing for what the change will mean for the future and reflecting on the foundational legacy that the man from Mineral Wells, Texas, leaves behind.

For 34 years, Frisco’s story has been synonymous with the story of George Purefoy. Now, both are entering the next phase of their lives.

But not before the Frisco community takes a moment to reflect.

A bit about George 

George Purefoy knew he wanted to be a city manager when he was about 12 years old.

That was around the time that the city of Mineral Wells had gone to a home rule charter and was in the midst of hiring its first City Manager. It was a transition that filled local headlines for weeks, and Purefoy, whose father was circulation manager for the Mineral Wells Index, had a front-row seat to those headlines. For Purefoy, the coverage sparked an interest in how cities are run.

“I don’t know, it just intrigued me, all the different things that a city did,” he said.

While attending the University of Texas at Arlington, Purefoy worked as a police officer to help pay his way through school. It also gave him an up-front look at that side of public service.

After receiving a master’s degree in public administration from Texas A&M University-Commerce, Purefoy’s career eventually landed him in Columbus, Texas, where he volunteered with the local ambulance service and served as city manager.

It was from there that he and Debra pulled out the map and said their prayers. Soon after, they moved to Frisco.

What Frisco was

George Purefoy remembers when Frisco had one traffic signal at the corner of Preston Road and Main Street that provided a blinking red light.

When he came to Frisco in November, 1987, the city had about 5,000 residents and 50 city employees.

The city had just switched to a home-rule charter system, making Purefoy Frisco’s first ever city manager.

For Purefoy, the goal was to avoid also being the city’s last ever city manager.

“I felt like since I was kind of the first, that it was incumbent upon me to set the tone, the example of what a professional city manager should look like so that hopefully the town would keep that form of government and believe that it is the best way to manage the city,” Purefoy said. “And I tried my best to do that. I’m sure I failed in some ways, but. (...) the goal has always been there to give the best level of service at the best value.”

At the time, the biggest issue of the day was making sure the city conducted trash pickup, which was eventually resolved when Frisco contracted the service out. There were also issues with the city’s budget when he arrived, Purefoy said.

“So the money was so tight, and I actually was called the hatchet man,” Purefoy recalled.

However, for Purefoy, it was about providing the best service to citizens at the best value and providing the same level of service to every resident.

As the city began to grow, Purefoy found his approach to his job changing with it. The days of doing the city’s budget on his Lotus 1-2-3 were eventually gone, as were the days of making sure he approved anything over $50.

“I went from basically having my finger in kind of everything to evolving to where you have professionals in each department who oversee the departments,” he said, “and I tell people it became, probably in the mid 1990s, it became less about what I did individually to more about what all the department heads did throughout the city.”

It was a matter of adapting to find the best people to head various city departments, he said.

Over time, the vision for Frisco began to take shape.

For Purefoy, the bar had been set by nearby Plano, and he figured people would expect the same level of service in Frisco that was received in the neighboring city.

“So I guess the goal has always been, and my goal has always been, to try to get the city, the foundation put in place so that we could have the opportunity to get a city as well-rounded as Plano,” he said.

Of course, he added, laughing, Plano has also proved to be a big competitor.

“There’s been some…and as there should be, there’s been some tense moments from time to time, but certainly respect what they do and have done,” he said.

In 2000, the Stonebriar Centre Mall opened in Frisco, marking a victorious conclusion for the city in a bidding competition with Plano for the economic hotspot. The mall has since been dubbed Frisco’s first “economic engine.”

Landmark developments soon followed, including Riders Field for the Frisco Roughriders, the Dallas Stars’ practice facility (now named the Comerica Center), the expansion of the Dallas North Tollway from State Highway 121 to US 380, the development of the city’s municipal center and the establishment of what is today called Toyota Stadium, the home of FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. The city became the home of Dallas Mavericks minor affiliate the Texas Legends, and for two years in a row, Frisco hosted the Major League Soccer Cup. Sports and tourism became a guiding principle for the city of Frisco.

What Frisco is

Today, Frisco boasts a population of over 220,000. There are roughly 1,400 city employees and, of course, more than one traffic signal.

The city is home to such landmark locations as the Ford Center at The Star, the National Soccer Hall of Fame, the future headquarters of the PGA of America and the currently evolving HALL Park. Frisco has made moves in its ability to provide access to higher education through expansions with Collin College and the University of North Texas.

Over recent years, Frisco has received such accolades as one of the safest cities in the country, most recession-proof city in the country, best city to do business in Texas and, in 2018, the “Best place to live in America.”

Most recently, Frisco was one of four major cities to be a part of bringing the World Cup to Dallas in 2026.

Today, Frisco is known for its public-private partnerships that have brought the city and school district access to such monumental developments as Riders Field, Comerica Center, Toyota Stadium and the Ford Center at The Star. That is due in large part to Purefoy, who is considered the “lead architect” of such partnerships.

Through his tenure, Purefoy has developed a reputation of being a man of integrity and a man of his word.

At the same time, he’s also known for being a man who stays in the background, who doesn’t like the spotlight and who doesn’t speak up much.

But when he does speak up, the people around him listen.

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When Purefoy speaks with the Frisco Enterprise on Dec. 8, 2021, he is six months out from his last day on the job.

A normal day as City Manager might include working on robust projects that span hundreds of acres and that will shape the future of Frisco. But it also means working on smaller projects and making sure the budget stays in line throughout the year, Purefoy said. In general, the job requires an ability to adapt quickly.

“I kind of get bored pretty easily, unless I can find a lot of different things to get into,” Purefoy said. “So this is kind of the perfect job for me, because I’ve got so many different things to do, to attend to, that there’s not really a chance to get bored.”

When it comes to explaining his job, Purefoy notes that it entails many different things.

He describes the importance of city departments working together, as well as such essential matters as getting a street built and making sure water is supplied when someone turns on a faucet.

“I guess if you boil it all down, what I kind of alluded to earlier is trying to deliver the best service at the best value,” Purefoy said.

That includes protecting taxpayer money, making sure it’s not wasted and ensuring taxpayers do get good service.

“And then how do you make sure that you get employees in place that hopefully they’re not just here for the job, they’re here because they’ve got a public servant’s heart, they want to see how they can help deliver good service to the citizens and do it in a way that’s respectful of the taxpayer’s money,” he said, “and I guess it’s more of an art than a science.”

A promise kept

On Tuesday June 21, Purefoy attended his last City Council meeting as City Manager. An agenda item included recognition for Purefoy and what he has meant for the city of Frisco.

True to form, when it was his turn to speak, Purefoy was quick to highlight the work of other city staff and to credit both his success and Frisco’s to the teamwork of multiple people. He added that the relationship with Frisco ISD has been foundational for Frisco.

He also noted that the “prayer story” is true.

“I promised God that anytime I had the opportunity to tell people that, I’d tell people that,” he told the gathered crowd, “hopefully so that people could see when a man and a wife get down on their knees and pray, that very, very good things can happen. And I can’t think of anything bad that can happen when you do that.”