With over 27 years experience in local government, Mr. Blackwell has worked and managed all aspects of municipal finance in addition to city management. His career began with the City of Fort Worth in 1996 as a utility rate analyst for the Water Department. Shortly afterwards, he migrated to the City Manager’s Office where he worked on the City’s annual budget. His first directorial position began in 2006 with the City of Kennedale, before moving to the City of Forest Hill, for the same position. In 2010, he was brought on as the Director of Administrative Services for the City of Bedford. His responsibilities ranged from budget preparation, to coordinating annual audits, financial reporting, forecasting, debt issuance, treasury management, investments, as well as cost of service studies, capital planning/budgeting, and tax rate calculations. In 2017, Mr. Blackwell was promoted as the Assistant City Manager, where his responsibilities expanded from municipal finance to parks and recreation, information technology, human resources, municipal court, utility billing, and public works. In 2020, he served as the Interim City Manager while navigating the organization through the pandemic era, as well as civil unrest. By 2021, he retired from the City of Bedford to begin a new chapter in his career. In 2022, he came to the City of Glenn Heights as the Deputy City Manager, who would be responsible for overseeing the municipal finances of the city. In addition, he oversees information technology, ERP software implementation, human resources, utility billing operations, municipal court, and special projects.
Clifford has served as president of the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas (GFOAT) and recently served on the GFOAT board of directors. Moreover, he also served on the Texas Municipal League’s board of directors.
Mr. Blackwell earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Accounting from Prairie View A&M University, a Master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Texas, and has been a Certified Government Finance Officer since 2003.