Austin City Manager Fired Over Poor Winter Storm Response

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Two weeks after Austin officials were again heavily criticized for mishandling a severe winter storm, city council members fired a senior city official whom they accused of persistent problems with major disaster relief efforts.

The city council removed city manager Spencer Kronk, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the city, in a 10-1 vote on Wednesday – with newly elected mayor Kirk Watson among the votes to get rid of Kronk. On Thursday, the interim manager will take up his duties.

Kronk, who has led the city since 2018, fell out of favor with council members after a winter freeze earlier this month cut power to tens of thousands of households and businesses who became frustrated waiting for the city to tell them when lights and heat would turn on. would return.

An initial lack of communication with residents was also a key shortcoming identified during an audit of the city’s response to the deadly 2021 winter storm. Some council members were furious that the city faced the same problem two years later.

Escalating tensions between Kronk and the city council flared last week over the city’s contract with the Austin Police Association, the union that represents the city’s cops.

City and union negotiators are drafting a new multi-year contract, and council members planned to vote last Thursday on a move to extend the union’s existing contract by one year. Council members didn’t want to put the new police contract into effect before voters had a chance to weigh in on a May vote proposal aimed at strengthening civilian oversight of Austin’s police force.

But on the night before the vote, Kronk unnerved the council members by announcing that the city and the union had reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract.

In a tense and confusing meeting, Kronk staunchly resisted starting new negotiations when both sides had already tentatively agreed to a long-term deal. In a stunning scene, council member José “Chito” Vela accused Kronk of undermining the council’s work and called for a new city manager.

At first, Kronk delivered a contrite tone over the winter storm, apologizing last week for the city’s delay in public communications and promising the city would make improvements. But after Watson and three board members announced on Saturday that they planned to consider firing him, Kronk defended his decisions.

“The safety of our residents, businesses, employees and visitors has always been my top priority,” Kronk said in a statement Saturday, touting a tentative agreement with the police union. “My responsibility, one of many as city manager, is to ensure the safety of all our residents.”

Kronk, one of the city’s highest paid officials, will receive a severance package – about $463,000 – equal to his salary and other benefits.

The council appointed Jesus Garza, who served as Austin’s city manager from 1994 to 2002 during Watson’s previous tenure as mayor, as interim city manager while the city looks for a permanent replacement. The first day of Garza is Thursday.

This is an evolving story; come back for details.