Nearly a third of top level Austin leadership positions are in new hands under Jesús Garza

Since his appointment as Austin's chief executive in March, Jesús Garza has used his authority under the city's “council-manager” structure to quickly move employees into temporary — and sometimes permanent — leadership roles overseeing key city departments.

Garza appointed 17 people to city leadership positions in a nine-month period, according to an American-Statesman review of city organizational charts. Some appointments were made to fill vacancies; others were to made lead newly formed departments.

In total, Garza has appointed more than a third of the nearly 50 leadership positions the city manager is tasked with overseeing.

These leaders guide departments with some of the largest staffs and most expensive budgets in Austin — departments that make sure the airport is operational, that ensure Austinites have electricity, that provide services to the city's unhoused community and more.

Some city departments helmed by interim leaders appointed by Garza have undergone significant organizational change or expansion, including the Aviation Department, which oversees Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and the Homeless Strategy Office.

The circumstances for each change vary, and most were made without much public scrutiny. That was until Garza reneged on his plan to conduct a national search for a director to lead the Office of Police Oversight — a decision that drew questions from more than half the City Council and criticism from social justice activists.

Garza's unilateral decision to appoint someone without a national search led City Council members to publicly question how he is using the city manager's seat to make appointments that could far outlast his time in the role.

But this kind of change is what Garza says he was brought in to make when he was hired as the interim city manager.

Mayor Kirk Watson and the City Council directed him to make the changes needed so the city would be "more responsive," Garza said.

Garza was hired in February after the City Council voted to oust his predecessor, Spencer Cronk, in part due to the city's response to the winter storm in early 2023 that left thousands of Austin residents without power.

"When I was brought in, it was said, 'You need to evaluate the personnel and make the changes that are necessary,’ ” Garza told the Statesman. "And that's what I've done."

Some interim directors ascend to permanent positions

Top-level changes are ostensibly neither good nor bad but do probably indicate an organization is undergoing some degree of restructuring, one leadership expert told the Statesman.

"Somebody's hired you and (is) giving you the license to drive some change," Miha Vindis, a Texas State University political science professor who studies leadership and management practices in both the public and private sectors, said of interim appointments.

The Office of Police Oversight has had multiple interim directors since the fall of 2022, when police oversight director Farah Muscadin resigned.

Gail McCant had served as interim director of the office since March, when the previous interim director, Deven Desai, resigned.

In September, Garza promoted McCant to permanent director, deciding against the national search for a replacement. His rationale, in part, was that the office had been without a permanent director for more than a year, he said.

After the appointment, more than half of the City Council members called on Garza to explain why there was no national search for the position tasked with leading the office that provides oversight on police conduct and practices.

In an Oct. 4 memo, made public Oct. 10, Garza defended his decision, writing: "Had I moved forward with a national search, we would be waiting until next year before being able to name a permanent lead for the Office — a delay that would simply add to the already perceived delay of moving forward with the voters’ will via (Proposition) A."

Proposition A was a ballot initiative passed by voters in May to increase police oversight, but activists who supported the proposition have accused the city of dragging its feet on implementing many of the changes. In September, the City Council passed a resolution seeking to implement certain aspects of Proposition A.

More: Garza responds to questions about forgoing national search for police oversight director

Garza later told the Statesman there "was not a need" for a national search.

The director of the Office of Police Oversight isn't the only permanent appointment Garza has made during his eight months in the position; others include the heads of Austin Energy, Austin Resource Recovery, Development Services, and Austin's office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

In the case of Austin's public utility, Garza said he asked the current director, Bob Kahn, if he was interested in the position when there was a vacancy for a permanent leader.

Kahn previously served as deputy general manager, general counsel and vice president for legal services at Austin Energy. He most recently worked at the Texas Municipal Power Agency as the general manager.

"When he was willing to do that, we moved, and we moved quickly," Garza said.

Kahn in July replaced interim General Manager Stuart Reilly, who had taken over for Jackie Sargent after she retired in March.

More: City Council members want answers after appointment of Austin director of police oversight

Last month, Garza announced his plans to make the Homeless Strategy Office, which has been a part of Austin Public Health, a stand-alone office.

The office — tasked with overseeing the city’s response to homelessness, which is affecting more than 5,500 people in Austin — has undergone leadership changes since August, when former Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Grey resigned just weeks after the city allocated a record $80.9 million to address the issue.

In addition to giving the office its autonomy, Garza will make the interim director, David Gray, the permanent director of the new stand-alone office. Gray was placed on special assignment in June to evaluate the office before his predecessor’s resignation.

“One significant finding is that the City’s current organizational structure does not effectively respond to this critical priority in our community,” Garza wrote in a Nov. 20 memo announcing the changes to the office, which are effective Monday.

Austin Energy has a new General Manager. Here's what he sees for future of the department

District 10 Council Member Alison Alter, the second-longest-serving council member currently on the dais, said it is "not uncommon for turnover and new appointments to occur when a new manager is appointed," and the amount of internal change is comparable to when Cronk started in 2018.

Alter, who was initially elected in 2017, noted that Cronk brought on a new deputy, hired new assistant city managers and did "significant reorganization."

At certain points under Cronk's tenure as city manager, Alter said there was concern about the number of people leaving their jobs at the city.

"We hired Mr. Garza as our interim after the vast majority of council had clearly indicated dissatisfaction with prior management," Alter said after McCant's appointment. "The challenge is that there's got to be a balance between being a caretaker interim and righting a ship that clearly the majority of council felt needed righting."

City organizational structure and Garza's hiring style

In Austin, the city manager functions like a CEO — responsible for overseeing the implementation of policies approved by the mayor and City Council.

The police chief and fire chief are selected by the city manager and need approval by the City Council. Hiring for more than 40 other key positions is at the discretion of the city manager. Most department leaders report to one of four assistant city managers, the chief of staff or the chief financial officer, who all report to the city manager.

The city manager, city clerk, city auditor and head of the Municipal Court are appointed by the mayor and City Council.

Garza said his hiring style is to "develop succession plans" so the city doesn't have to look externally for every position when there is a vacancy, he said.

"It's to create stability within an organization," Garza said.

It also sends the signal that the city will promote internally, he added.

In regard to when national searches are conducted and for what roles, Garza said, "you make that judgment on a case-by-case basis."

When you bring in someone from outside, "it takes them a full year to get up to speed about all the major issues that are going on at that organization," Garza said.

Key departments to have interim directors indefinitely

Among the city departments overseen by interim directors are some of its most critical, including the Police Department and the Aviation Department, which oversees Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

As it undergoes a wide-reaching expansion program to meet growing demand, the city-owned airport has operated without a permanent director since March, when Jacqueline Yaft suddenly resigned.

To fill the position, Garza tapped Jim Smith, the former longtime director of the Austin airport. Garza said he has worked with Smith in different capacities since 1984, including when he was an assistant city manager under Garza.

Garza was the city manager from 1994 to 2002, including Watson's first stint as mayor from 1997 to 2001.

Since his appointment, Smith, who had retired in 2019, has been performing an evaluation of city-owned airport operations amid rising concerns about the airport's ability to sufficiently accommodate a post-COVID-19 bump in air traffic.

In addition, the airport this year has been the backdrop for a string of near-misses between aircraft, sparking calls for better airspace safety from local, state and federal officials, and two fatal workplace accidents — one of which left an Aviation Department employee dead.

More: US Rep. calls for 'swift and forceful action' at Austin airport after string of near-misses

When a permanent director could be appointed remains to be seen.

Shelley Parks, a city spokesperson, said any effort to select a new director — whether the recruiting of an internal candidate or the start of a national search — will not kick off until Smith's evaluation is completed. She said the evaluation is ongoing and there is not a specified time frame for completion.

Parks also told the Statesman there is not a search underway for a new police chief.

Joe Chacon, the former police chief, stepped down in August after months of contention surrounding a partnership between the Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Garza made Chacon's chief of staff, Robin Henderson, the interim police chief — an appointment confirmed by the City Council.

Parks said the city did not have a timeline for conducting a search for a permanent police chief.

What about the city manager search?

The timeline for the city manager search has sped up from initial projections outlined by Watson, who had said the plan was to have a new chief executive by September 2024.

The City Council approved the hiring of a search firm in October and could replace Garza in the first half of 2024 if a candidate is found.

Garza hopes Austin is better positioned for the future by the end of his tenure.

"I hope that we're stable," he said. "I think you want an organization that's really forward-looking, that's looking to see how it can solve problems."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 17 Austin department leaders appointed by City Manager Jesús Garza