Panama City Beach City Manager Richard Jackson Retires Pt1 - WMBB News 13 - The Panhandle's News Leader

After 33 years, Panama City Beach City Manager, Richard Jackson is retiring, but his long history with the city isn't soon forgotten.

News 13 sat down with Jackson, Friday, to get his take on retired life.

He's not quite gone yet and he'll still be around to share his wisdom that only 33 years on the job can bring.

But, you have to start at the beginning.

In 1979, just breaking into his thirties, Richard Jackson sat in the back of a heated council meeting. He was then employed by Panama City Beach Public Works.

"Some argument came up. Don't even know what the issue was...and one of the council members made a motion to appoint me city manager," said Jackson.

The rest was history for Jackson. Little did he know it would be a 33 year history complete with 5 mayors, 35 councilmen, and countless others. News 13 sat down with Jackson on Friday to talk about the job and retirement.

When asked what he thought he would miss the most, Jackson reminisced on the time he's shared with his coworkers.

"[I'm] probably [going to miss] getting up early in the morning. Coming to work. I'll miss the employees. I've spent more time with the people that work here than my own family. I've spent half my life here," said Jackson.

But he couldn't recall a thing he wouldn't miss.

"You know I've thought about that very question. I don't know if there's anything I'm not going to miss" he said.

Like any journey worth taking, Jackson's journey as City Manager taught him a lot about life and himself.

"I think probably the most important life lesson is to be patient, don't over react and listen. I think probably depend on the people that work with you to help you with the issues," said Jackson.

Of course Jackson has made a lot of friends along the way. In part two of this piece, two of those friends and former mayors sit down to hash out their favorite Richard Jackson moments.