Art Acevedo withdraws from new role with city: What's next?
AUSTIN, Texas - Earlier this week, just days after former chief Art Acevedo's return to Austin was announced, he backed out of his new job overseeing APD, citing politics and power struggles surrounding the situation.
FOX 7 Austin's Mike Warren spoke with Austin City Council member Mackenzie Kelly about the abrupt departure and next steps for the city.
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MIKE WARREN: What happens now that Acevedo is out?
MACKENZIE KELLY: Well, now that he's no longer available or has his name in the running to be in this position for an assistant city manager over the police department, it's up to the city manager how we move forward. I expressed deep concerns to the city manager over the process, how quickly this decision was made, how a new position was created outside of the budget process, how the salary was as high as it was. This decision caught me and several other council members off guard. We had little to no time to give input or even to go out into the community and see how they felt about it. There was an overwhelming sense when I talked to my constituents after I was here just last week, that they wanted more information on how this decision was made, and I'm glad that the city manager is open and willing to provide more notice to council after a memo I drafted and sent to him.
MIKE WARREN: How strange is it that this decision was made? Everybody was surprised by it. The job itself, as you mentioned, is kind of outside the normal budget. It seems kind of strange, doesn't it?
MACKENZIE KELLY: Well, it definitely didn't sit well with me, and I don't think it sits well with a lot of people in the community. I've had a lot of time to reflect on this and realize that while I can be supportive of the city manager's decision to make personnel choices because that is in the city charter, which is how we are governed, the notification piece itself is something that we can change. We can make sure that in the future, as council members, we're not caught off guard and that we actually are able to have those conversations and talk about our concerns with the city manager and the decisions he makes.
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MIKE WARREN: The role that Acevedo was going to have, this assistant city manager overseeing APD. Is that even a necessary job?
MACKENZIE KELLY: Well, I do believe that there could be some great things that come out of the additional focus on the Austin Police Department. I know our current assistant city manager of public safety, Bruce Mills, wears a lot of hats. He's over police, fire, EMS, the airport. Those are all very important departments that need to run, and he absolutely is able to do that. But when I've had conversations with him, the additional focus on the police department to help get them through this critical time in our community would have been extremely valuable. Now, whether or not it was Art Acevedo or someone else who has those skills, knowledge and experience, I think is something that we're going to have to talk about.
MIKE WARREN: Has the city manager explained to you, or to anybody, kind of how we got here, the speed of this and the surprise of it?
MACKENZIE KELLY: Yeah. I actually sat down with the city manager on Tuesday afternoon, and we talked at length. He helped me understand how he got to this point. And while I understand that, what I don't understand is the nuances that come with a decision like this, the timing. We were set as a city to make a public apology to individuals who had their rape kits expired, and their sex crimes mishandled, by the city. That was planned for two years, and for the city manager to not know that that was going to occur at the same time he was announcing this new position is problematic.