Tag Archives: City Manager Spencer Cronk
A look back: Austin’s year in review
With 2023 drawing to a close, it’s time to look back on the local headlines that dominated the news before looking forward to the year ahead. Happy News Year! New city management This year saw a strange kind of sea…
Austin • By Austin Monitor • Dec 29, 2023
Austin starts search for next city manager
The search for Austin’s next city manager is underway. In a post to the City Council Message Board on Thursday, Mayor Kirk Watson outlined a process for the search. Watson has appointed a sub-quorum of Council to act as a…
City Hall • By Nina Hernandez • Jun 20, 2023
Council fires City Manager Spencer Cronk in wake of winter storm response
Austin City Council members have fired City Manager Spencer Cronk, the city’s chief executive. The vote Wednesday followed criticism of his leadership during an ice storm that left hundreds of thousands without power earlier this month. “I ran (for mayor)…
City Council • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Feb 16, 2023
Council members signal they could fire City Manager Spencer Cronk
Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk could be on his way out. City Council is slated to vote on the employment and a possible severance package for Cronk at its meeting on Feb. 15. Council initially planned the Wednesday meeting to discuss the city’s contract…
City Council • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Feb 13, 2023
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Council delays vote on one-year police contract extension, citing confusion
After nearly a year of negotiations, with just seven weeks to go until the current police labor contract expires, with city staff and the police union working to finalize a tentative four-year agreement and in the run-up to a local…
Police • By Emma Freer • Feb 10, 2023
Questions of the day: When will power be restored? Will Cronk keep his job?
Two questions hung over City Council’s abbreviated work session Tuesday, one arising frequently and one never mentioned. First of all, Council members wanted to know how many Austin Energy customers were still without power and when their power would be…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Feb 8, 2023
Subscribe to our newsletter
Ice storm communication sparks emergency performance review of city manager
The breakdown in the city’s communication to residents and employees during last week’s disastrous ice storm appears to be the main motivation behind City Council’s push to evaluate the performance of City Manager Spencer Cronk. Mayor Kirk Watson added the…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 7, 2023
Mobility, housing progress among the highlights of Cronk's 'most normal year' in Austin
Spencer Cronk takes a measure of perspective when asked to look back on 2022 and a year that demanded constant attention to homelessness, ongoing labor negotiation, and persistent difficulties filling open positions within city government, among other issues. After a…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 29, 2022
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
City Council approves 10% raise for city manager, Austin's top executive
Citing a much-delayed cost-of-living adjustment, Council members on Thursday bumped Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk’s salary from $350,000 to just over $388,000. The move represents an 11 percent increase in pay and the first change to Cronk’s base salary since…
City Council • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 13, 2022
Police union revisits city’s proposal to expand civilian oversight as clock ticks down
The Austin Police Association will respond later this month to the city’s repeated demands to remove civilian oversight of the police department from the labor contract. In exchange, the union has asked the city to reconsider some of its earlier…
Police • By Emma Freer • Nov 14, 2022
Proposed $5B city budget leans on fees, less on property taxes, amid a boom in sales tax revenue
Austinites may not see as steep a hike in property taxes next year. Still, they could see an increase of 2.7% under a budget proposal released Friday. City Manager Spencer Cronk’s proposed $5 billion budget for 2023 leans more heavily on…
Budget • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jul 18, 2022
Staff proposes continuing security guard contracts
City Council has been urging city staff since at least 2012 to hire more security guards as city employees, while city management and financial officers have pointed out the difficulties of doing so. Once again this week, Council will be…
