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Born and raised in Tennessee, Phil Robinette has started serving as Glasgow’s newest town manager.
He brings with him a wealth of education and experience, including 33 years of military service in the Army, and 30 years of law enforcement experience.
He finished high school in three years and began his military career at the age of 17, going on to service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Operation Desert Storm, Kuwait, Kosovo, Operation Just Cause-Panama, just to name a few. He also earned numerous awards during his career. He is retired from the Tennessee Army National Guard, as senior intelligence officer, Nashville.
His education and career has taken him from Tennessee to Missouri and Arkansas and back to Tennessee and now Virginia. He has been a law enforcement officer and a training officer. He was chief of police in Cole Camp, Mo., in 2020, with five sworn officers. In this position he conducted complex criminal investigations which involved persons and property. He analyzed crime trends in the state and developed a core plan to reduce criminal offenses through a special law enforcement program.
From 2010 to 2015 he served part-time as the assistant funeral director for Colboch- Price Funeral Home in Rogersville, Tenn., where he aided in all mortuary operations, conducted inventory management, wrote obituaries, updated and restructured the company website, and many other duties.
He served as city manager in Charleston, Mo., from January 2021 to September 2022. He managed a staff of over 50 employees, oversaw all municipal operations, including accounting and financing, budgets and budget preparation, code enforcement, community, economic and industrial development, contract negotiations, grants, human resources, information technology, parks and recreation personnel management, public information and relations, public works, and water and wastewater. He also collaborated with local, state and federal agencies to share resources, which streamlined operational costs.
From 2002 to present he has served as grant writer and local government consultant for Robinette and Associates, Rogersville, Tenn. He has developed and written grant proposals for foundations, food banks, city and county organizations, and nonprofits.
He has taken various training courses through the University of Tennessee; and graduated from the FBI National Academy, from the University of Virginia in advanced and graduate studies, advance criminal justice management in 2001, and from Almeda University in criminal justice in 2006. He also received a bachelor of science in business administration from Ashworth College in 2019.
He hit the ground running in Glasgow, getting acquainted with the town staff, listening to citizens and getting a handle on the needs of the community.
He stated, “I’ve heard the same concerns and complaints in every town I’ve been in, especially those of abandoned structures being a hazard and inoperative vehicles. We are already on this, but it’s a process and it won’t happen overnight.”
Robinette is married to Jill Robinette, his second wife. He has three adult sons from his first marriage and a stepson and step-daughter. They are looking for housing in the area and hope to relocate in the next few weeks.
After being officially introduced at last week’s Town Council meeting, he spoke to the group, telling a little bit about himself and his background. He noted that his grandfather was a civil engineer who worked on the building of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and that two of his aunts were born in tents along the way. He also stated that he has an “open door” policy and welcomes citizens to come talk to him. Robinette succeeds George Hayfield as town manager. He left in March after a two-year stint in Glasgow, heading south to become the town manager of Buchanan.
