David Tipton, director of Planning and Zoning gets a hug at a party thrown in his honor at the Corsicana Government Center on Thursday. Tipton is retiring after 30 years. Daily Sun photo/SCOTT HONEA

3/29/2002 Tipton Retires after 30 years with city

By JOAN SHERROUSE/Daily Sun Staff

Dozens of well-wishers gathered in City Hall Thursday to honor David Tipton, director of planning and zoning, who is retiring after 30 years of service.

Truitt Gilbreath, city manager, called Tipton a tremendous asset to the city and a person who makes things happen in a good way.

"David, I think you can see we're all going to be lost without you and we hate to see you go," he said.

Mayor April Sikes promised to keep her remarks short, but laughingly said anyone who could endure city hall for 30 years deserves some sort of recognition.

Several others, including Emmaline Gonzalez and Diana Rawlins, Precinct 2 and 3 council representatives, respectively, and Ron Lynch, director of public works, all expressed their appreciation for Tipton's consistent helpful attitude.

His newly-hired secretary, Deanna Hayes, presented him a digital camera from city employees and Gilbreath presented a watch in recognition of his service to the city.

Tipton went to work as an inspector for the city in 1971 and moved into the director's post about five years later.

"I'll probably be working in this capacity for another month, but on a part-time basis," he said. "Whoever they hire, they'll want to give notice wherever they work."

He said training schools provided much of the expertise he needed to inspect for city code violations, but over time, he has attended quite a few classes at Navarro College.

During his career, Tipton has made recommendations on countless zoning changes and variance requests, always with residents' best interests in mind.

"A lot of times, I'm in opposition to a variance, and I might be opposed to a zoning change if it's a change in a residential neighborhood," he said. "I want to see the place where people live protected because a residential neighborhood is no place for a business."

Plans for the near future include relaxing and working in the garden, and farther down the line he may rekindle an old interest.

"I used to keep bees, and I've thought about going back into the business again," Tipton said. "Dealing with bees is fascinating, but the hard-work part of it is handling the boxes when they're full of honey."

He said he has seen a lot of industrial and residential growth in Corsicana during the past 30 years, but it has been well-controlled expansion.

"Corsicana has been good to me, and I appreciate all the help everybody has given me," he said.

Joan Sherrouse may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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