Austin to offer city manager job to T.C. Broadnax, mayor says

City Council is recommending T.C. Broadnax as the next city manager. Mayor Kirk Watson said Tuesday that Council will finalize his hiring April 4.

Broadnax resigned as city manager of Dallas last month after calls from a majority of that city’s council. He had had a tense relationship with the mayor and some council members for years, making it difficult for the city to get anything done.

Before becoming the Dallas city manager in 2017, he worked as a city manager in Tacoma, Washington, and was assistant city manager in San Antonio for six years.

It’s not yet clear when Broadnax will start or how much he will be paid. City Council will discuss that at their meeting. For context, former City Manager Spencer Cronk’s final annual salary was $388,000. He also had been receiving other monetary benefits, including an “executive allowance” of $7,200 a year and cellphone reimbursement. In Dallas, Broadnax was paid an annual salary of $423,246 plus a monthly car allowance.

The city manager position is the highest-ranking position at City Hall. Broadnax will be responsible for hiring and firing department heads, preparing the budget and serving as an objective adviser to Council.

Broadnax said Tuesday that as city manager he would focus on addressing Austin’s most pressing challenges, including homelessness and policing. He said emergency preparedness is also a top priority for him.

“I would figure out how we are more prepared than we may have been in prior years,” he said. “And what steps I need to take to ensure everything we said we needed to do and improve upon, that we have resources to do it.”

Broadnax beat out Sara Hensley, who has been the city manager in Denton since March 2022. She was the Austin Parks and Recreation director for nearly a decade before becoming an assistant city manager in 2017.

Austin has been without a permanent city manager since Cronk was fired in February 2023. Jesús Garza has been serving in the interim.

The city began the official search for a city manager late last year. It received 39 applications for the job and narrowed those down to Broadnax, Hensley and a third candidate, Brian Platt, who withdrew from consideration.

Broadnax and Hensley were introduced to the community in a town hall meeting Monday night. Both candidates had the chance to speak about their experience and how they would prioritize things like policing; homelessness; and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The moderator presented questions the public had submitted ahead of the meeting, and people used a QR code to give feedback. After the Q&A, people lined up to talk with the candidates. Some said they were concerned about whether City Council would have enough time to analyze their feedback before making a decision.

Kathie Tovo, a former Council member who is running for mayor, said there should have been more engagement with the audience.

“I would have liked to have seen the community members really be able to talk directly with the candidates,” she said. “Not after the meeting, as they are, but really in the context of the meeting and have that help inform the decision-making that the Council will have to do.”

City Council members interviewed both candidates Tuesday before announcing their decision.

This story was produced as part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting partnership with KUT.

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