(Aug. 17, 2017) Bobby Cowger, a lifelong resident of Pocomoke, has been named city manager, Mayor Bruce Morrison announced during the council meeting on Monday.
Cowger, who has served multiple terms as Worcester County Commissioner and had run the now defunct county Department of Liquor Control, said he sought the position for both professional and personal reasons.
“I was born and raised in Pocomoke,” he said. “I’ve been here all my life.”
Cowger, whose first day on the job is Aug. 28, takes over for former City Manager Ernie Crofoot who left office on July 5.
After graduating from Pocomoke High School in 1976 Cowger worked with his family’s construction business, Cowger Brothers Ready Mix Concrete and Asphalt Paving, for nearly two decades.
“I stayed into that until the mid ’90s and then we sold out to a company across the bay,” he said.
Although the buyers, Aggregate Industries, kept Cowger on board for a bit, he balked when the company asked him asked to relocate from the Eastern Shore.
“I ran their concrete and aggregate operation on the Eastern Shore for about four year, then they packed up and left,” he said. “They wanted me to go across the bay and work but I wasn’t going to go across the bay and live.”
In addition to personal sentiments, Cowger was reluctant to leave Worcester County after becoming an elected official.
“From 1995-98 I was a county commissioner,” he said. “I got beat one time and then I didn’t run the next time.”
Cowger unseated and then was subsequently unseated by rival commissioner Sonny Bloxom.
“From 1990 to 2010 him and I battled back and forth as county commissioners,” he said. “Sonny and I are still friends…I’ve known him all my life.”
In 2006, Cowger regained his position as commissioner and he served until 2010.
Between his stints as commissioner, Cowger stayed busy on multiple fronts.
“From 2001-2005, I was the director of, at that time … the LCB (Liquor Control Board),” he said. “In 2005, I decided I wanted to go back into the construction business, which was a bad decision.”
After finishing his second run as county commissioner, Cowger revived a previous role.
“In 2011, I went back with the county [and] that’s the year the county took over the LCB,” he said. “They were taking it over and were looking for somebody with experience to come in and run that department.”
In April 2016, Cowger resigned as director of the Department of Liquor Control after the commissioners rejected his advice to pursue a slower exit strategy from the spirits business to reduce costs to taxpayers.
When Cowger learned of the city manager opening, the hometown connection motivated his candidacy.
“Pocomoke is going through a pretty rough time the last few years,” he said. “I said, ‘Well, I really think I can step up and do some good and help Pocomoke.”
Assessing his skill set, Cowger feels he is uniquely qualified to bring improvements to Pocomoke.
“Half of what goes on in the town deals with construction … or development and I’ve been in that background since 1976,” he said. “There’s a lot of politics involved in everything that goes on, so I’ve certainly got the political background dealing with the county and dealing with Annapolis.”
Budget issues are another area Cowger feels qualified to address.
“I’m not an accountant, but I’m definitely a numbers guy,” he said. “When I was with the Liquor Control Board, I had a $15 million budget and 49 employees that I oversaw.”
Assessing priorities as he prepares to come on board, Cowger said sprucing up Pocomoke is on the short list.
“The mayor and council are in the process of really trying to start to do a clean-up of Pocomoke,” he said. “I’ve been screaming about that to them since the last time I was a commissioner.”
Cowger also noted the excessive number of neglected residential and commercial properties in town.
“There are probably 70 dilapidated or… abandoned houses in Pocomoke,” he said. “When you have that, that states drawing drug traffic.”
With future development as the long game, Cowger said appearances matter.
“If you ride through and it doesn’t give you a very good first impression, why are you going to move your family and your business to an area you don’t like,” he said.
Examining fiscal considerations, Cowger said Pocomoke could only tighten its budgetary belt so far.
“You’ve got to generate new revenue,” he said. “That’s probably my number one priority is sitting down with developers and seeing what can we do to spur growth in Pocomoke.”
Fostering mutually beneficial business partnerships is the goal, Cowger said.
“What can the town of Pocomoke do to … entice you to spend your money and develop here,” he said. “We [can] help fast track the permits for them because delays… cost them tons and tons of money.”
Although the path is still being charted, Cowger said addressing poor water quality in another primary concern.
“It’s going to be a major project but the town has got to step up and do something about that water problem,” he said.
As he prepares to take charge of operations in his hometown, Cowger is enthused about the possibilities.
“I don’t think there’s any question we can get Pocomoke back solid and turned around,” he said. “I’m feeling very comfortable and confident about it.”
Cowger, who has served multiple terms as Worcester County Commissioner and had run the now defunct county Department of Liquor Control, said he sought the position for both professional and personal reasons.
“I was born and raised in Pocomoke,” he said. “I’ve been here all my life.”
Cowger, whose first day on the job is Aug. 28, takes over for former City Manager Ernie Crofoot who left office on July 5.
After graduating from Pocomoke High School in 1976 Cowger worked with his family’s construction business, Cowger Brothers Ready Mix Concrete and Asphalt Paving, for nearly two decades.
“I stayed into that until the mid ’90s and then we sold out to a company across the bay,” he said.
Although the buyers, Aggregate Industries, kept Cowger on board for a bit, he balked when the company asked him asked to relocate from the Eastern Shore.
“I ran their concrete and aggregate operation on the Eastern Shore for about four year, then they packed up and left,” he said. “They wanted me to go across the bay and work but I wasn’t going to go across the bay and live.”
In addition to personal sentiments, Cowger was reluctant to leave Worcester County after becoming an elected official.
“From 1995-98 I was a county commissioner,” he said. “I got beat one time and then I didn’t run the next time.”
Cowger unseated and then was subsequently unseated by rival commissioner Sonny Bloxom.
“From 1990 to 2010 him and I battled back and forth as county commissioners,” he said. “Sonny and I are still friends…I’ve known him all my life.”
In 2006, Cowger regained his position as commissioner and he served until 2010.
Between his stints as commissioner, Cowger stayed busy on multiple fronts.
“From 2001-2005, I was the director of, at that time … the LCB (Liquor Control Board),” he said. “In 2005, I decided I wanted to go back into the construction business, which was a bad decision.”
After finishing his second run as county commissioner, Cowger revived a previous role.
“In 2011, I went back with the county [and] that’s the year the county took over the LCB,” he said. “They were taking it over and were looking for somebody with experience to come in and run that department.”
In April 2016, Cowger resigned as director of the Department of Liquor Control after the commissioners rejected his advice to pursue a slower exit strategy from the spirits business to reduce costs to taxpayers.
When Cowger learned of the city manager opening, the hometown connection motivated his candidacy.
“Pocomoke is going through a pretty rough time the last few years,” he said. “I said, ‘Well, I really think I can step up and do some good and help Pocomoke.”
Assessing his skill set, Cowger feels he is uniquely qualified to bring improvements to Pocomoke.
“Half of what goes on in the town deals with construction … or development and I’ve been in that background since 1976,” he said. “There’s a lot of politics involved in everything that goes on, so I’ve certainly got the political background dealing with the county and dealing with Annapolis.”
Budget issues are another area Cowger feels qualified to address.
“I’m not an accountant, but I’m definitely a numbers guy,” he said. “When I was with the Liquor Control Board, I had a $15 million budget and 49 employees that I oversaw.”
Assessing priorities as he prepares to come on board, Cowger said sprucing up Pocomoke is on the short list.
“The mayor and council are in the process of really trying to start to do a clean-up of Pocomoke,” he said. “I’ve been screaming about that to them since the last time I was a commissioner.”
Cowger also noted the excessive number of neglected residential and commercial properties in town.
“There are probably 70 dilapidated or… abandoned houses in Pocomoke,” he said. “When you have that, that states drawing drug traffic.”
With future development as the long game, Cowger said appearances matter.
“If you ride through and it doesn’t give you a very good first impression, why are you going to move your family and your business to an area you don’t like,” he said.
Examining fiscal considerations, Cowger said Pocomoke could only tighten its budgetary belt so far.
“You’ve got to generate new revenue,” he said. “That’s probably my number one priority is sitting down with developers and seeing what can we do to spur growth in Pocomoke.”
Fostering mutually beneficial business partnerships is the goal, Cowger said.
“What can the town of Pocomoke do to … entice you to spend your money and develop here,” he said. “We [can] help fast track the permits for them because delays… cost them tons and tons of money.”
Although the path is still being charted, Cowger said addressing poor water quality in another primary concern.
“It’s going to be a major project but the town has got to step up and do something about that water problem,” he said.
As he prepares to take charge of operations in his hometown, Cowger is enthused about the possibilities.
“I don’t think there’s any question we can get Pocomoke back solid and turned around,” he said. “I’m feeling very comfortable and confident about it.”