Doyle named Citizen of the Year

TEXAS CITY — Any ship captain will tell you a true measure of a sailor’s mettle comes when he guides his vessel through stormy seas.

Supporters of this year’s Citizen of the Year argue he did just that, but the rough seas weren’t those of Hurricane Ike or the recovery process, but rather troubling economic seas.

Texas City Mayor Matt Doyle knew the 2009-10 budget cycle would be challenging when the price of oil dropped to $39 a barrel Jan. 1, 2009. In Texas City, where the petrochemical industry accounts for 57 percent of the tax base, that translated to a $322 million loss in industrial property values.

The bubble also had burst on the housing market, and property values in the city dropped $566 million, or about 12 percent compared to 2008. It was the biggest economic hit in Texas City since the oil busts of the 1980s.

“We took a lump when oil prices fell, but we avoided layoffs and maintained our work force, did not raise taxes and did not take away any city services,” City Commissioner Mike Land said. “(Matt) understands finances and the economic conditions we were under.”

Visionary Leader

Staving off financial problems wasn’t merely a tightening of belts. The city gave raises to employees and continued with building projects. It completed the Sanders/Vincent Center near downtown and started construction on the new Carver Park Center in West Texas City and the Carlos Garza Sportsplex.

The city had to dip into its reserves for about $5 million. But Land pointed out the $23 million cushion was there thanks in large part to Doyle’s management of the city.

“He is a visionary leader and always thinks about tomorrow,” Commissioner Dee Ann Haney said.

“Despite the budget challenges we faced last year after Hurricane Ike, Matt still found a way to give our employees a raise. Under his leadership, our city has continued to prosper.”

Doyle downplays the praise and tried to deflect the accolades.

“We’re fortunate we have some very hard working and talented people working in this city,” Doyle said. “It’s really all of us. The employees, the commission, the citizens. I am just the one who gets to benefit from all of their hard work.”

Decision Maker

County Judge Jim Yarbrough doesn’t let Doyle get off so easily.

“Matt’s strength is his ability to make decisions,” Yarbrough said. “He is just smart that way. He can take a set of circumstances, find the key five or six points and make the decision that is in the best interest of the people.

“Standing up for the right thing to do takes a lot of confidence in your ability to lead.”

Yarbrough saw that ability firsthand last summer when he was trying to formulate a plan to provide additional local funds to help save the University of Texas Medical Branch. Yarbrough was taking heat for his push for a hospital district when Doyle became the first mayor in the county to openly back Yarbrough’s plan.

Even as the hospital district morphed into a tax rate increase, Doyle stood by Yarbrough and the majority of county commissioners as they pushed for the plan.

“I saw it as an economic issue as well as a health issue,” Doyle said. “The risk of job losses and what it would have done to this county was just too high not to take some action.”

From Good Stock

In Doyle’s world, there are two family businesses — banking and public service.

By all accounts, he has excelled at both.

Doyle is vice chairman of Texas First Bank, which was founded and is chaired by his father, former Texas City Mayor Chuck Doyle. What started out as a small bank in Hitchcock now has 19 branches in three counties, a financial services division, an insurance division and a mortgage company.

Matt Doyle didn’t start out in the banking business. After graduating from Texas Tech University, he went to work for Mangum Brick, a brick manufacturing plant in Oklahoma that his great-grandfather founded in 1902.

But he was soon back in Texas City, working at the family’s bank in Santa Fe.

His skills as a banker led him to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Banking keeps a roof over his head. Public service is his way of giving back.

“Most kids grow up wanting to be firemen or policemen,” he said. “For me it was a bit different. My mom and dad both taught us that it’s not just about going to school or going to work. It’s about giving back — doing more than what’s expected.”

The Doyle children would spend their days handing out political fliers when their dad first ran for city commission.

He noted that a Doyle has been in public office for 65 of the past 100 years in the county.

That includes the service of his father as mayor and of his brother, Patrick, a county commissioner and former justice of the peace.

Matt Doyle was a College of the Mainland trustee and city commissioner before he became mayor in 2004.

His service to the community is not limited to elected office.

He is a past president of the Texas City-La Marque Jaycees, chairman of the Independent Living Board, a member of St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Roman Catholic Church’s finance committee and a trustee of the Gulf Coast Center for Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

You See The Man

In 1982, a diving accident left Doyle paralyzed from the chest down. After four months of rehabilitation and a few months of getting used to getting around in a wheelchair, Doyle was back at work.

He deflects any questions or comments about overcoming the challenges of a disability.

“Don’t make too much of that,” he said. He especially gets irked when people fuss over him as he makes his way around in his wheelchair.

Often he refuses to use the automatic door at city hall, contending it’s too slow.

Doyle has interests outside banking and public service — such as raising Longhorn cattle.

“With Matt you almost don’t notice he is in the wheelchair,” Yarbrough said. “You see the man well before you see the chair.”

Lack Of Rancor

What may be Doyle’s best talent is his ability to avoid huge controversy in city government. For years, Texas City has been quiet compared to other cities in the county.

Doyle credits others and deflects recognition.

“Certainly not everything is perfect, but here it is often we agree to disagree and it’s done in a civil manner,” Doyle said. “We (as a commission) don’t dwell on things and don’t hold grudges.”

He credits the culture of the city.

“Texas City is a real strong place that’s always been about getting things done,” he said. “Those refineries didn’t built themselves; people did, and many of them are still around.

“When the city had to be rebuilt (after the April 16, 1947, Texas City disaster), it was the people here who did that.

“You can’t be a wimp and be a part of this city.”

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The Matt Doyle File

Birth date: Aug. 20, 1958

High School: Texas City High School Class of 1976

College: Texas Tech University with finance degree in 1980

Family: Married his college sweetheart, Debbie, on Feb. 21, 1981. They have two children, Sean Thomas Doyle, 22, and Erin Elizabeth Doyle, 19.