The city of Pharr named former Assistant City Manager Anali Alanis to the position of interim city manager this week following the resignation of Andy Harvey.
Alanis’s appointment to the position turned out to be a history-making decision as she became the first woman to serve in that capacity in the city’s history.
She was appointed interim manager during Tuesday’s regular meeting of commissioners following the police chief’s resignation. He had served as city manager since April 22 after former City Manager Ed Wylie stepped down. He continued to serve as the city’s chief of police throughout his tenure as city manager, and will now return to that role full time.
Though her appointment was Tuesday, it was not until Friday morning during a 9/11 memorial service that she became aware of the historical significance surrounding her new role.
“I was being thanked on the stage for being there,” Alanis recalled. “They said, ‘We want to congratulate Miss Alanis for being the first female ever in the history of the city of Pharr as the city manager.’ It kind of just hit me like cold water. I was like, ‘Wow, I’m the first female ever to be a city manager in this amazing city.’ I am beyond humbled to be that person.”
“People always say stop and smell the roses,” she continued. “I failed to stop and smell that particular rose.”
Alanis is a native of Nuevo León, Mexico. She moved to the United States when she was 12-years-old.
“I was bullied here a lot like a lot of the people here who come from Mexico,” she recalled. “I always tell people that if you notice an accent, yep — English is not my first language. That didn’t stop me. I still continued.”
She continued by earning an associate of business administration degree and a bachelor’s in applied technology management from South Texas College. She followed that up with a master’s in public administration from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2016.
October will mark 16 years since Alanis began her career with the city of Pharr. She was initially hired as a payroll clerk, before serving as the human resources coordinator in 2007.
In 2015, Alanis was named director of human resources before being promoted to assistant city manager in 2019.
“She’s very familiar with the city as an organization and how the structure has changed over time,” Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez said. “She’s held different roles, and she absolutely served in an excellent manner as assistant city manager. It was only natural for her to pursue the next calling — professional growth.”
Hernandez acknowledged the history behind Alanis’s appointment, but he said that it had little to do with the city commission’s decision.
“That was not the guiding source for us picking her,” Hernandez said. “We chose her, quite frankly, because of her credentials and her track record. It’s a plus that she’s been in a leadership role with the city, now as a fulltime city manager, and just happens to be the first female city manager for the city of Pharr. It’s great and we’re excited for her.”
With the eyes of the city on her, Alanis said that she plans to continue pushing the city forward and instill an organizational culture that strives for excellence everyday.
“My heart is for the city of Pharr,” Alanis said. “I always tell people that I bleed blue because those are our colors, not because of the Cowboys — let me clarify. (Citizens) can expect to have a transparent, open-minded, innovative person that’s going to keep moving the city in a different direction and putting Pharr on the map in every positive regard that we can.”
Harvey also praised Alanis on her new role. He said that the city is in very good hands with Alanis stepping in to fill his former position.
“We’re in great hands,” Harvey said. “She has been with the city for many years, and she is totally committed to making the city better. I’m here — we’re all here to support her and make sure that she succeeds in her new role for as long as she’s there.
With his resignation, Harvey will now be able to focus more on his true passion, which is serving as chief of police for the city of Pharr.
“What I really, really believe in my heart is that everybody in the organization has to be in the right seat on the right bus,” Harvey said Friday. “It became more evident to me as time went on that the better seat for me on this bus was that of chief of police. That’s not to say anything bad, it’s just that there’s a better seat for me here, and I really believe that.”
“I love policing, and I love what we’ve done here.”
