Matt Allen has been the City Manager for the City of Garden City since June 1, 2008. Prior to that, Matt served the City of Garden City for six years as the Assistant City Manager.
Matt's local government calling began with a part-time internship with Saline County, Kansas in 1994 which has since led to career advancement opportunities with the City of Lenexa, KS, the City of Salina, KS, the City of Joplin, MO, and the City of Oakley, KS before returning to his hometown of Garden City in 2002.
In 2017, Matt was named Alumnus of the Year by Leadership Kansas and was profiled in Ingram Magazine’s 50 Kansans You Should Know. In 2018 he was awarded the Kansas Association of City/County Management’s highest honor, the Buford M. Watson Award for Excellence in Public Management and in 2019 the Kansas Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration named him the Kansas Public Servant of the Year. In April 2021, the American Society of Public Administration presented Matt with the Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Exemplary Practice Award at its national conference for his contributions towards fostering an atmosphere of inclusion within the municipal organization he manages and the community he serves.