TAGITM has six standing committees. Committee Chairs are appointed by the President, subject to Executive Board approval, with the exception of the Nominations Committee, which is chaired by the Immediate Past President. If you have an interest in serving on committee, please complete this form.

• Communications
• Conference
• Education
• Marketing
• Membership
• Nominations
• Industry Advisory
• Awards

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee is charged with design and management of the quality of content for the official association web site. In addition, this committee will oversee all means of communication of the association.

Tony Gonzalez – Committee Chair

Gonzo’s first government job was as CIO for the City of Bryan in 2002. It was here that he discovered a love for working in local government. “It’s a passion of mine to live and work in the same city. I get a special motivation knowing my work improves the lives of my friends and family who live where I do.” He has been somewhat of a career gypsy, working at Bryan, Arthur Anderson (No, Bernie, I didn’t have anything to do with Enron!), Microsoft, Sungard, OSSI, City of Dallas, BKD and others. “When I came to Bryan, I got involved in TAGITM pretty quickly. It was one of the best decisions I made and I am grateful to be back in a City that supports me being an active member. TAGITM has helped me in many, many ways to be a better IT Director. Strong relationships with peers and with strategic vendors is invaluable.”

Gonzo considers himself a major believer in Change. “What we have always done is rarely good enough, but we have to be intelligent and strategic about how we implement that change. Local government is a real job with real consequences. Don’t change it just to say you changed it, but have good solid reasons for the change and push hard to make it happen.” “During interviews, I tell candidates they will never work harder for anyone else than they do for me. But, I also tell them they won’t have more fun working for anyone else than they will me. I believe you have to work hard, but you spend more time at work than you do with your family in a given week. You better have fun doing it!” He looks forward to bringing that philosophy to the TAGITM Board. Gonzo got back into Local Government after a few years in the private sector by becoming the IT Director in Forney, but has now moved on to be the IT Director for the City of New Braunfels. He and Gayla got married while living in New Braunfels back in 1994, so this is a Homecoming of sorts for them.

Contact the Communications Committee Chair.

Conference Committee

The Conference Committee is charged with overall planning of the annual conference.

Travis Cochrane - Committee Chair

Travis Cochrane joined the City of Corpus Christi as the Deputy Director of Information Technology in July, 2018. Prior to moving to Corpus Christi, Travis served as the Director of IT for the City of New Braunfels, Kerrville ISD and the City of Kerrville. Over the past 12 years, Travis has served on the Membership, former Website, Awards and Conference Committees.

As Deputy Director of IT in Corpus, Travis oversees all IT operations consisting of the End User Computing and IT Infrastructure divisions.

Travis graduated from Texas Tech with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Management and Management Information Systems. In 2017, he completed the Certified Government Chief Information Officer program through the University of North Carolina. It was at school in Lubbock that he met his wife of 13 years and now have three amazing children.

Contact the Conference Committee Chair.

Education Committee

The Education Committee is charged with the responsibility of providing all educational functions of the Association.

Chris Lee - Committee Chair

Chris Lee started his career with the City of Lewisville in 2000 when he was accepted into the department’s internship. Chris received a bachelor’s degree in business computer information systems from the University of North Texas in 2001 and was promoted to a System Engineer position. Chris recalls from his very first day his excitement for the opportunity: “I really could not believe that I was getting paid for this internship! It felt like a candy land of technology and problems to solve. If anything, it confirmed that I went into a field that a truly enjoy.” Chris has held a variety of positions within the department and was promoted to the IT Director position in 2013. Chris has been married for fourteen years and they have two boys and two dogs. He enjoys traveling with his family and just about any type of sporting or outdoor activity.

Contact the Education Committee Chair.

Marketing Committee

Jason Power, Town of Westlake - Committee Chair

Jason is the Director of Information Technology for the Town of Westlake. He has been employed by the Town for 9 years, starting as the first full-time IT employee for the Town of Westlake and Westlake Academy, the largest operating department for the Town and the only municipally owned and operated open enrollment charter school in the State of Texas. The Town and Academy operate with a shared-services model for several departments, including Information Technology. He was promoted to IT Manager in 2011 and IT Director in 2014.

Jason was interested in technology at an early age, but chose to pursue a career in music after receiving a full ride scholarship to Tarleton State University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance. He continued his music studies at TCU on another full ride scholarship and received a Master of Music in Theory and Composition. Jason taught music theory and technology for music for a few years before fully transitioning his career to Information Technology. Prior to the Town of Westlake, Jason held several positions in IT and training in advertising/marketing departments and agencies as well as software sales/support.

Jason completed the Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) program from the University of North Carolina in 2016.
Jason has been married for 22 years and has two boys. Music has continued to be a big part of his life, now mostly as a hobby. He plays piano, synths, and organ in local churches as often as he can. He also teaches his boys and other students how to play piano, synth, and organ in youth church bands.

Contact the Marketing Committee Chair.

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee shall be concerned with all matters pertaining to the advancement of membership of the Association.

Kevin Cameron - Committee Chair

Kevin Cameron is the IT Project Manager for the City of Allen. He recently has been working on implementing Energov, Cityworks, Incode Courts, and a new Microwave Network at the City as well as managing the RFP process for a new CAD/Law RMS. He joined the City in 2012 after stops at Keane, Inc, Sea-Land Service, Yahoo!, and JCPenney. He graduated from Texas A&M with his BBA in Business Analysis – Management Information Systems.

Kevin has been married for 23 years and has 16-year-old triplet sons (3 teenage drivers at once, my insurance agent loves me) and an 11 year old daughter. Kevin has been the WatchDOGS (Dads of Great Students) coordinator for the last 9 years and is the incoming president for the Allen Eagles Tennis Booster Club.

Contact the Membership Committee Chair.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee is charged with preparing a ballot of candidates for election to officer positions.

Mike Sturm, City of San Marcos - Nominations Chair

Mike Sturm is the Director of Information Technology for the City of San Marcos. He has been employed by the City for twenty years. He manages 18 employees that are responsible for the Service Desk, System Administration, Business Relations, Network Infrastructure and GIS. He is also the President of the Texas Association of Government Information Technology Managers.

As for a personal life, he has been married for twenty eight years and has two children. Their daughter graduated from Texas A&M in 2012, and their son is senior at Texas A&M and is a member of the ‘Fighting Aggie’ Band.

Contact the Nominations Committee Chair.

Industry Advisory Committee

The Industry Advisory Committee is charged with actively promoting quality affiliate participation in the Annual Education Conference and any other special events as appropriate.

Requirements for a vendor to be on the Industry Advisory committee: In order for a vendor to be on the committee, they must be a member of TAGITM the prior year, and be at least a gold sponsor during their prior and current term.

Richard Semple, MPA, GISP, CGCIO – Committee Chair

Richard Semple has 20 years of experience in IT from both the private sector and government. He started his career in Pittsburgh, PA before recloating to California for 4 years, and then finally on to the Austin area to work for Williamson County in 2005. He started as the GIS Manager and held several positions in Williamson County IT before taking his current position as the IT Operations Director.

The IT Operations division of Technology Services consists 20 staff members in the IT Service Desk, Infrastructure, Servers & Storage, Security, and Public Safety teams. They support the 24x7x365 operations of the County, including public safety IT services for several Cities and ESDs. In the past several years under Richard's direction, the County has replaced its network core routing, replaced all access switches, implemeneted a Cisco UC system, upgraded servers, moved to Office 365, implemeneted an enterprise storage solution, added mobile routers to all law enforcement vehicles, implemeneted VDI, as well as new body-camera system and in-vehicle camera system replacement, among many other projects.

He holds a Master's degree in Public Administration as well as a Master's Certificate in Project Management, is a Certified GIS Professional, as well as a Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO).

Contact the Industry Advisory Committee Chair.

Awards Committee

Scott Joyce – Committee Chair

Scott began his career at the University of North Texas in 1999 as a Network Administrator. He worked for various UNT departments, eventually leaving as the Assistant Director of Business Services for Data Operations. Scott joined the City of Haltom City in February of 2008 as the Director of Information Technology and remained there for 6 years, where he founded the City’s first Information Technology Department.

In 2014, he became the head of the Information Services Department for the City of Euless and has focused on hardware virtualization and process improvement strategies. Under Scott’s leadership, the City of Euless is deploying a city-wide 4G LTE wireless network to provide consolidated communications for all remote assets and systems, including SCADA, AMI, traffic signal, and school zone flasher administration.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Texas with a major in Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management. Scott completed the Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) program from the University of North Carolina in 2014. He has a particular interest in operations management and process improvement and is currently pursuing certifications in Six Sigma and project management.

Contact the Awards Committee Chair.