Acting City Manager Robert Eads told attendees at the Hawkeye Festival on Saturday that community input gathered at the event will help shape the city’s priorities, including potholes, traffic, parks and support for local businesses.

Eads, speaking with Stacy Osborne, the city’s acting public information officer, described the festival as a cross-section of the community and said that “from day 1, you can tell that it is a community event.” He said he has heard from longtime residents and newer families and plans to bring those perspectives back to council discussions.

The nut of Eads’s remarks was that quality of life will drive city decisions. “Quality of life drives what we do,” he said, listing common concerns he has heard at the festival: potholes, traffic, more park amenities and more locally owned restaurants and shops. He also said the city seeks to preserve Elgin’s character while accommodating growth.

Eads described the festival as a chance to collect informal feedback that staff and council can use later. He said, “All of that is input so that when all those other meetings are happening, it’s like, you know, I was at Hawkeye, and I met this family,” and that such encounters will be brought to committee and council conversations. He added that he serves at the pleasure of the city council and that his role includes relaying community views to elected officials.

On partnerships, Eads said the city works with the local school system but noted he does not have direct authority over schools. He framed the relationship as collaborative, saying, “Are we partners the schools? Yeah. Of course.”

Eads pointed out the festival draws visitors from nearby communities — he mentioned seeing people from Giddings and Bastrop — and said that interactions at vendor booths and community booths reveal both historical ties and emerging interests among residents. He also noted other festival moments, including judging at a dessert contest and an outdoor dance the night before, as evidence of broad community participation.

No formal actions, votes or policy changes were announced at the festival. The remarks were presented as informal community engagement and a source of qualitative input for future staff or council work.

Looking ahead, Eads said the city will continue to weigh competing needs among different resident groups — families with young children, working households, retirees and small-business owners — while avoiding “knee jerk” decisions driven by a single idea or person. He said the city aims to advance changes through group, inclusive processes rather than unilateral moves.

The conversation took place on site at the Hawkeye Festival near the Veterans Park stage, where Eads was scheduled to introduce musical acts later in the day.