Austin City Council picks T.C. Broadnax to be next city manager

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After deliberations behind closed doors Tuesday, Austin City Council intends to move forward with T.C. Broadnax as its next city manager, according to a city council message board post from Mayor Kirk Watson.

City council members still need to vote next Thursday, April 4, to direct its search firm to negotiate a contract with Broadnax, according to the post.

"This posting will also be for potential passage of an ordinance to employ T.C. Broadnax as Austin City Manager," the mayor wrote. "Again, I know we are all deeply thankful to Sara Hensley for putting herself on the line and offering to be our City Manager."

T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley were the finalists for the position of roughly 40 applicants. They met with the public, with City of Austin staff and with the mayor and council members this week.

In a statement to KXAN Tuesday, council member Zo Qadri said the following:

“It is very exciting that Council has reached the decision to hire T.C. Broadnax as the next City Manager for the City of Austin. We had a rigorous and lengthy discussion among Council Members, where we ultimately decided that his breadth and depth of experience, coupled with positive feedback, put Mr. Broadnax over the top. I look forward to working with him as we approach Austin’s opportunities and tackle our city’s issues together in the future.”

What we know about T.C. Broadnax

In a Q&A session with members of Austin's media Thursday, Broadnax talked about his priorities for his first 100 days in office, including hiring a permanent police chief and making that process open to the public. He also talked about early work on homelessness.

"Going back to the table to figure out the appropriate scope of services that everybody can agree to for the diagnostic that was supposed to be done on our homeless ecosystem to make sure we get that right," he said.

Broadnax has served as the city manager of Dallas for the last seven years, according to the City of Dallas’ website. He announced he was stepping down from the role last month. His last day will be June 3, according to Dallas City Council documents. 

Several Dallas City Council members pushed for Broadnax’ resignation last month citing his tense relationship with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune.

"I think collectively the decision that they wanted to go and have a reset, and go in a different direction with a new manager that could coalesce and work with them in a manner similar to when they hired me," Broadnax told Austin reporters Thursday. "I think, gotta respect that and so I think my time there has been good."

Prior to landing in Dallas, he was the city manager of Tacoma, Washington. According to KXAN’s NBC affiliate in Dallas, which vetted Broadnax prior to his start there, he received high praise from the City of Tacoma prior to his leaving. 

How we got here

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza was brought out of retirement by the council after it voted to fire former City Manager Spencer Cronk. Garza did not apply to remain in the position long-term, according to documents KXAN received of the full list of applicants.

Cronk faced increased scrutiny last year following prolonged power outages from an ice storm in early February and negotiation with the Austin Police Association on a four-year deal “in principle,” which ultimately fell through.