Kingsville City Manager Carlos Yerena has been named the sole finalist for the position of Harlingen city manager after a meeting of the Harlingen City Commission held Tuesday.

According to Harlingen Human Resources Director Efren Fernandez, Yerena was one of the initial five finalists out of 41 applicants who applied for the job.

“After a second interview last week of the top five finalists, he was named among the top three applicants which also included Hondo City Manager Robert Herrera and current Interim Harlingen City Manager, Harlingen Assistant City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez,” Fernandez said. “After the city commission meeting Tuesday, he was named as the sole finalist for the position.”

Fernandez said the position first became available in December but due to other priorities the search for applicants did not complete until this summer.

“We planned to fill the position early but then we had municipal elections in May so it delayed the process,” he said. “After the elections took place, the process was fast tracked and we opened up an additional two weeks to get more applicants before identifying top applicants and setting up interviews.”

Fernandez said after Yerena was named the sole finalist the Harlingen City Commission authorized Mayor Chris Boswell to negotiate a contract with him.

“They will begin negotiating the contract and if the contract is satisfactory to both sides then they will go forward,” he said. “I am assuming that the final contract will be voted on in early September.”

Yerena became the Kingsville city manager in November of 2003.

Before Kingsville, Yerena was the City Manager for the City of Pecos, a West Texas city approximately 210 miles east of El Paso, for three years.

He began his career in January 1993 as Economic Development Director for the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce.

After two years, he decided to pursue a career in public administration as Assistant City Manager (later, City Manager) for the City of Donna, while President-CEO of the Donna Economic Development Corporation.

He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas Pan- American.