The City of Bolivar’s board of aldermen hired Thomas Relford as the new city administrator in a special meeting Friday, March 10.
The board voted unanimously to offer Relford — a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy University — Bolivar’s top administration position.
He plans to start working with the City on Monday, March 20.
“We are thrilled to hire a candidate of Mr. Relford’s caliber to fill our city administrator seat,” Mayor Christopher D. Warwick said. “Over the past several years, our elected officials, leadership and staff have worked hard to make Bolivar an even better place to live, work and visit. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, and we’re confident Thomas will come in, take up the mantle and continue that progress. We can’t wait to see what the future will bring under his leadership.”
Relford, who currently lives in Salem, worked with the FBI for 25 years before retiring as the special agent in charge of the Albany, New York, field office in 2021.
In that role, he oversaw the field office’s daily operations, including investigations, tactical field operations and administration. He also served as a liaison to other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Throughout his career, he worked in locations across the nation, including Kansas City, Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Baton Rouge. He also spent five years as a legal attaché in Dakar, Senegal, and Nairobi, Kenya.
Relford and his wife, who both grew up in Missouri and attended the University of Missouri, returned to their home state following his retirement. He currently owns and operates Thomas F. Relford Consulting, working as a security audit and compliance consultant.
He was appointed to the City of Salem’s finance committee, which works to prepare Salem’s annual budget, collect taxes and levies, present bond proposals and manage employee salaries and classifications, in June 2022.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity,” Relford said in Friday’s board meeting. “I’m going to work very hard to strive to be the best city administrator I can be, to build trust and confidence in not only you but the community. I’ll do everything I can to make this city a better place, and I know I have a good team here to support me. I just ask for your patience. At the end of the day, I see good things happening.”
The City of Bolivar has been looking to fill its city administrator role since Tracy Slagle’s retirement in January. The City partnered with People Centric Consulting Group as it searched for candidates to fill the position.
The City of Bolivar was established in 1835 and serves as the Polk County seat. Today, it has around 11,000 residents. Bolivar is home to the Citizens Memorial Hospital and Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation integrated healthcare system, Southwest Baptist University and the Bolivar R-1 School District.
City Hall is located at 345 S. Main Ave. and is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The phone number is 417-326-2489. For more information, visit www.bolivar.mo.us or follow the City of Bolivar, Missouri Facebook page.
