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Austinites hear from city manager finalists during meet-and-greet

T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley are the final candidates in the running for the role.

AUSTIN, Texas — The city of Austin is looking to fill the role of city manager. And with two candidates left, the community will soon see a new leader in this position.

Monday evening, finalists T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley attended a "Meet the City Manager Candidates" event, which included remarks and a moderated discussion open to the public. The event took at the City of Austin Permitting and Development Events Center on Wilhelmina Delco Drive.

On Tuesday, the two finalists also took questions from local media outlets.

About the candidates

In early March, the third finalist and current Kansas City Manager Brian Platt withdrew from the Austin race for reasons unknown.

Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax and Denton City Manager Sara Hensley are the last two candidates in the city of Austin's search.

T.C. Broadnax

Broadnax has served as Dallas's city manager since February 2017 and, before that, served as the city manager of Tacoma, Washington.

According to his profile on the city of Dallas's website, Broadnax has more than 25 years of local governmental management experience and is an International City/County Manager's Association credentialed manager. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science and communications from Washburn University and a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Texas.

As Austin's police union is in contract negotiations with the city, Broadnax said he has experience with the collective bargaining process.

"If it's still not resolved at the time of my arrival, should I be selected to be city manager, I would dig in and work with the team to figure out how we get to some agreement," Broadnax said. "If it is already gone, then hopefully, I'll be working on how to implement it effectively – particularly the area that seemed to be most contentious, and that is oversight and finding ways to make sure that that's set up the right way, in the manner befitting the public vote to have it done."

Sara Hensley

Hensley has served as Denton's city manager since March 2022. According to her profile on the city's website, she joined the city as the assistant city manager in May 2019 and was promoted to deputy city manager in July 2020, then interim city manager in February 2021.

Hensley has more than 20 years of public service and leadership experience, including, most recently, serving as the director of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department and as an interim assistant city manager for two years. She received a bachelor's and a master's degree in education from the University of Arkansas and is a graduate of the Executive Development Program at Indiana University.

Hensley said addressing police staffing is one of her priorities.

"It's hard to hire 350 police officers to fill holes when people are retiring and people choose to go somewhere else," she said. "So you've got to create an environment where people want to work. You've got to create an environment where you give them good training and you help them be the best. You got to create an environment where they want to stay, they want to live here. And you got to create an environment where there's upward mobility."

RELATED: 'We have to succeed. We don't have a choice' | Austin leaders discuss city manager search

After Monday's meeting, attendees could provide feedback using a survey. On Tuesday, Broadnax and Hensley will undergo a private interview process hosted by the Austin City Council. 

From there, a final vote will be conducted on April 2, when a contract will likely be created between the chosen candidate and Mosaic Public Partners.

RELATED: Brian Platt withdraws from consideration in Austin’s city manager search

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