The City of Buda has so many talented and dedicated employees. Why keep it a secret? We want you to be able to put a name to a face. This is our new “Employee Spotlight” segment. We would like to introduce you to Victor Castillo, the City’s purchasing manager.
What is a Purchasing Manager?
Victor: It’s my job to make sure we have everything in order when the City of Buda makes purchases. There are a lot of purchasing rules and regulations in the State of Texas. We have to make sure that we are following those rules and are compliant.
Tell us a little about your background and where you worked before you were hired in Buda.
Victor: Before coming here I was working for the State of Texas in procurement and contract management. In Buda I get to make a lot of good changes and now I don’t have to drive downtown every day.
I started off at Stephen F. Austin for my undergraduate degree. When my wife got her job at Hays CISD, Texas State said I was going to lose 43 hours for my economics and finance degree. I was put into a program called “Occupational Education.” That degree doesn’t go very far in the finance world, but with my finance background I got into purchasing. I was then hired by the State of Texas for purchasing and I really enjoyed it.
I don’t like paying full price for anything personally, so my job is just an extension of the research that I do naturally.
What was attractive to you about working for the City of Buda?
Victor: Even though we live in Kyle, we do everything in Buda. I have two sons. One is going into the second grade and one is going into fourth grade. The boys go to Carpenter Hill Elementary where my wife is a speech pathologist. They do karate in Buda and we do a lot of things here.
I like working for the City of Buda because I can see a direct impact in something that I’ve done. We’ve brought in some other contracts that we may not have been open to before, because of my experience with the state and knowing a lot of the state resources that we have access to as a city.
At the state level I would hear stories about somebody in Abilene or Beaumont benefitting from the services that we provided at the Texas Workforce Commission. But here in Buda it’s a more personal level and I can see everything that happens and everything that I’ve done.
What are your future plans when it comes to your career?
Victor: I’m working on my Masters in Business Administration Degree through Baylor University. Hopefully I can take that into more of a finance position. Eventually I’d like to get into city management.
What are your hobbies?
Victor: My boys and I enjoy collecting football cards together. Everybody has a handful of particular players they enjoy collecting. The boys like collecting different patches and memorabilia pieces. I like collecting guys who were pretty good when I was growing up.
As a family we enjoy taking little weekend trips. We really like going to San Angelo, which you don’t think of as a tourist destination. We have fun there and we have some friends in San Angelo.
What is something about you that surprises most people?
Victor: My choice in music is normally hip-hop. For some reason everybody thinks country whenever they see me. I don’t know why.
For some reason I will go down YouTube rabbit holes for long periods of time on the most random things, like traffic patterns in other cities and the way people drive. We think Austin is crazy, but I watch videos where they’re driving in Russia or London and it’s insane.
Victor Castillo was recently named Employee of the Quarter.
You can watch the video version of "Employee Spotlight" here: Employee Spotlight Video Version - Victor Castillo, Purchasing Manager
