Final Austin city manager candidates announced

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin City Council has announced the final three candidates for the city manager position.

According to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, city council used a search firm, Mosaic Public Partners, to find its next city manager.

It has now come down to the final three candidates: T.C. Broadnax of Dallas, Sara Hensley of Denton, and Brian Platt of Kansas City, Missouri.

Austin looking for a new city manager in 2024

Next month will mark one year since Austin decided to fire the former city manager following his handling of the 2023 ice storm which left over 200,000 residents without power for days. It's believed the city should have a new, permanent city manager by the end of this year.

Each candidate will come to Austin and participate in the next phase:

On Monday, March 25, city council will ask the candidates to participate in some meetings with members of the professional city staff. Also, that evening, we will conduct a community townhall.
On Tuesday, March 26, Mayor Watson and council will interview the three candidates. The interviews will be conducted at City Hall in the Executive Session Room.
On Monday, April 1, city council will ask one, two or all three candidates to return for additional discussion on April 1.
On Tuesday, April 2, city council anticipates voting to direct the search firm to negotiate a contract with a specific person on April 2.

On April 2, an announcement will be made on which candidate was picked for the city manager position.

Mayor Watson said, however, city council reserves the right to take more time in making the decision.