At the dawn of a New Year for the City of Celina, 2024 ushers in an exciting new era of leadership.
During the Celina City Council meeting on November 14, Robert Ranc was voted on by the council to take the helm at City Hall as Celina’s City Manager, beginning January 8th. Ranc was selected from a strong field of candidates presented to the council and to the community. Having most recently served as the Deputy City Manager in Dublin, Ohio, after previous public service roles in cities in Texas and Utah, Ranc is enthusiastic about returning to Texas and settling his family in Celina as he takes the reins of the day-to-day operations of the city. For Ranc, public service is not a career; it is a calling. That calling traces back to his elementary school years in the Cleveland, Ohio, suburb of Rocky River when he first recalls engaging diplomatically with civic leadership. “Since I was a boy, I have been interested in public service. A few years ago, my mother sent me a paper she found from when I was in fourth grade. It was a letter I had written to the Mayor of Rocky River explaining the improvements necessary at the city’s outdoor pool and what should be done to develop a vacant lot in the city. So, from a young age I have been interested in local government.” That passion to engage in public service continued through his middle school years, when Ranc was deeply impacted by a trip to the nation’s capital that forever sealed his fate, “I also vividly remember a trip my eighth-grade class took to Washington, D.C. and the profound impact the Capitol Building and other landmarks had on me. I never considered a career other than public service.” Ranc demonstrated his commitment to serve before the sun would set on his teenage years. Prior to embarking on a career in public service, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. Shortly after enlisting, the United States would go to war with Iraq, and the six years that followed etched deeply in his heart a drive to live and lead sacrificially. He recalls, “I enlisted in the Air Force just after graduating from high school. I spent six years active duty as a Persian-Farsi linguist. I was
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