ABOUT US
Local Government Visions started in 2014 as a small startup consulting operation. The firm is led by the Managing Director and owner, William R. Whitson. Mr. Whitson has served for over 40 years in all levels of government in the US - Federal, State and Local. We love helping organizations achieve success - contact us today to see how we can help!
William R Whitson
President/Owner
William graduated from the University of West Florida with a BA in Political Science and a master’s degree in public administration. Upon graduation, William was selected as a Presidential Management Intern (PMI) by the US Office of Personnel Management, beginning almost 40 years of combined management experience at the federal, state, and local level.
William served in the US EPA from 1983 to 1993. He spent time at EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. working in grants, contracts, communications and legislative affairs. He then
helped found and establish the Gulf of Mexico Program Office at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The Gulf Office was dedicated to protection of the Gulf of Mexico.
William has been a professional local government manager since 1993, serving in Milton, Pensacola, Port Orange, Panama City and Flagler Beach in Florida; Cairo and Hapeville in Georgia; and East Ridge in Tennessee. He has been an ICMA Local Government Credentialed Manager since 2002. He has served in an EOC Operations for nine (9) major Hurricane events.
William was elected to be the president of the Florida City/County Manager’s Association for the 2005-2006 term. During his tenure, he organized a coalition of local governments, involving twelve jurisdictions in Florida, to assist with the long-term recovery effort on the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. He was selected as the ICMA representative to the National Emergency Management Network (NEMN) and served on the Post Katrina Action Report Committee. William was also selected as the Florida League of Cities Municipal Employee of the Year in 2006.
In his local government career, William has served as a City Manager, Assistant City Manager, Department Head, and management consultant. He most recently served as City Manager of Hapeville, Georgia, Flagler Beach, Florida and a Senior Advisor for the Long-Term Recovery Team in Aransas County, Texas where the eyewall of Hurricane Harvey first impacted the US. He helped lead an effort to secure over $150M in federal/state resources for recovery operations in coastal Texas. In 2023, William was selected as a reservist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Congressional Liaison Cadre.
He currently resides in Flagler Beach. William has been married to his wife, Becky, for 40+ years. They have three grown children and five grandchildren.
Joanna Whitson
Marketing Manager
Becky Whitson
Administrative Services
Manager
Kim Foutz
Principal Project Manager
Kim Foutz is a leading professional in municipal management offering 25+ years of progressively responsible experience in municipal government. She served as City Manager for the City of Lampasas; City Manager for the City of Midlothian; Community and Economic Development Director for the City of College Station; Assistant City Manager for the City of Temple, City Administrator for the Village of Salado, and most recently disaster recovery consultant for Aransas County, Rockport, and Fulton.
Her experience includes all aspects of long term recovery, public administration, emergency management, redevelopment, economic development, grant writing, budgeting, strategic planning, contract negotiation, public infrastructure development, and master planning. She has managed and or worked in all city departments and has managed in cities ranging from 2,000 to 75,000 population with budgets of $10-$100,000,000.
Ms. Foutz holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Texas State University as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Texas.
Kim has been married to her husband, Paul, for 28 years. They have two grown children
Katie Dockhorn
Project Coordinator
Katie Dockhorn graduated with a BA in History from Cornell University and has worked in local government for the past eight years. Katie’s career in public service began as an AmeriCorps VISTA for the City of Philadelphia. She ultimately became the Director of Food Services for the City’s Office of Homeless Services. In that role, Katie led a unit of 12 staff, including staff that managed a food warehouse that distributed over 1 million pounds of food each year to emergency shelters and emergency meal providers. In her role as the Assistant to the City Manager with the City of Flagler Beach, Katie provided project management and public outreach support to the City Manager for major projects including a glass recycling machine, an impact fee study, a Wastewater Treatment Plant rebuild, and a beach nourishment project.
Katie also has direct experience with disaster recovery. In 2020, Katie was the City of Philadelphia’s lead for the Step Up to the Plate campaign initiative, which provided over 700,000 nutritious meals alongside essential services for vulnerable individuals during the pandemic. During that time, she also managed 3.54 million dollars in CARES food funding, and was instrumental in securing and administering over 2.5 million dollars of COVID-19 related food access relief and essential supplies for shelters and City staff. Additionally, Katie served as the City of Flagler Beach’s Liaison for the County Emergency Operations Center for two major storms and organized two Public Hurricane Forums attended by more than 75 residents and partners.
Katie lives in Flagler Beach with her husband, John, and her son, Michael.