Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk out, will get $463,000 in severance

Ending days of speculation tinged with outrage in the wake of widespread weather-related outages, Austin will part ways with City Manager Spencer Cronk effective Thursday.

On Wednesday, the City Council voted to terminate the city's contract with Cronk, who has been the city manager since 2018. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison was the only vote against the decision.

Per his contract, Cronk will receive a one-year severance of $463,001.50, which includes a year's salary and 240 hours of vacation payout. In December, Cronk received a 10% raise, increasing his annual base salary from $350,001 to $388,190.

The council also voted to name former Austin City Manager Jesús Garza as interim city manager until someone is named to permanently replace Cronk. Garza previously oversaw city departments from 1994 to 2002, an era that included downtown revitalization efforts and the opening of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Who is Jesús Garza?Former Austin city manager tapped as interim after Cronk exit

The council did not offer discussion on the vote from the dais Wednesday morning. But several council members spoke to the American-Statesman or released statements about the decision.

"When I consider the depth and breadth of challenges our community is facing, I do not believe terminating the city manager is the most measured or reasonable decision at this time," Harper-Madison told the Statesman. "Today, I chose not to support the immediate termination of our city manager because this action will not solve the systemic issues within our city government or our collective response to the recent winter storm."

Storm response:Spencer Cronk apologizes after widespread power outages

"This is an important decision that my colleagues and I took seriously," Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said. "Being city manager for a city the size of Austin is a challenging and demanding job."

Mayor Kirk Watson said "running a big, dynamic city such as Austin is an enormous job, and Spencer (Cronk) has been a committed public servant throughout his time as city manager."

Cronk in a written statement said serving the mayor and City Council was a pleasure, and he acknowledged their decision.

"In our council-manager form of government, the elected officials ultimately decide whether I am the right choice for them to lead our organization,” Cronk said. “I stand proud of our organizational accomplishments under my tenure. I thank the Austin community for the opportunity to lead this great city, and I thank our city employees for their consistent commitment to providing the very best public service.”

More:Austin plans campaign to fill 2,500 open city jobs. Here's what we know.

The move comes after a closed-door session he had with the council last week. While council members withheld details of the meeting, Council Member Chito Vela had confirmed to the Statesman on Friday that he believed the council was “ready to move on” with a new city manager.

Cronk has been the focus of criticism for the city’s response to the ice storm that hit Austin and left more than 100,000 Austin homes and businesses without power earlier this month.

Cronk issued a public apology for the city’s shortcomings in responding to the storm, saying that every storm is different and presents its own unique challenges.

“We have already learned so many lessons, and we will do better,” he previously said.

Cronk also faced some backlash related to his work negotiating a police contract last week, which he continued to defend in a statement he released over the weekend.

“The safety of our residents, businesses, employees and visitors has — for me — always been paramount,” Cronk said. “The final tentative four-year agreement that was reached (Friday) is centered on my professional management experience of how best to keep our community safe — and that remains the sole driving factor for pursuing a four-year contract.”

Cronk has faced criticism on other occasions from the council.

Cronk also had faced some pushback from the council when he did not fire or demote former Police Chief Brian Manley after some council members called for police reform in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

The city’s management of its water system came under scrutiny after a zebra mussel infestation made drinking water smell foul, and after three citywide boil water notices in five years. A new Austin Water director was named in December.

In August 2020, Cronk’s performance was also up for evaluation when then-Council Member Jimmy Flannigan called for a review of his employment.

The city manager also has been at the center of finger-pointing about bad workplace environments in city offices and how city departments are facing many vacancies. The city is operating with a 16.3% job vacancy rate. The vacancy rate for public safety employees is 13.2%, according to city officials.

On Feb. 1, the city, led by Cronk, kicked off a job recruitment campaign that sought to fill more than 2,500 vacancies across the city.

Cronk previously worked as the Minneapolis city coordinator before being named Austin's city manager in late 2017.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Spencer Cronk fired as Austin city manager after storm, power outages