ALACHUA – After almost 18 years working for the City of Alachua, Traci Cain sits behind the interim city manager’s desk once again.
Cain officially took on the duties of interim city manager Monday. The Alachua City Commission appointed her to the position in September and drafted a contact with her set to expire Feb. 28, 2010.
She is no stranger to the position. Cain served as the interim city manager in 2002 for a couple of months. She said that those were more trying times for the city than they are now. She said the transition so far has been smooth.
Her resume includes positions ranging from utilities billing supervisor to director of the human resource department, among others. Most recently, she served as the assistant city manager to former city manager Clovis Watson Jr.
She said seeing how much the city has grown since she went to school in Alachua has given her a sense of accomplishment. She wants to continue developing the city as a quality place where people can stay and not look elsewhere for employment.
As the interim city manager, Cain plans on making some organizational changes, although she was not ready to disclose any further details. She is also going to focus on several projects the city is already engaged in including the waste water treatment system and the codification of the city ordinances.
Cain said she shares Watson’s vision of making Alachua a place where you can live, work and play. And while she learned a lot from him, she is her own person.
“We are different people,” she said. “We have different ideas.”
She said the main difference between herself and Watson is that she is more aware of the day-to-day happenings of City Hall from working in different positions in the government, while he was more in tune with the community. But she said she will do everything she can to fill the community’s needs by having more community meetings.
Born and raised in Alachua, Cain said this is where her children go to school, where she wants to retire.
“Alachua is a beautiful place to live,” she said. “My whole family lives here. I don’t know anywhere else.”
