AUSTIN, Texas — The pool for who will be Austin's next city manager has gotten smaller.
Last week, the city of Austin named three finalists for the city manager position: T.C. Broadnax of Dallas, Brian Platt of Kansas City and Sara Hensley of Denton. But on Sunday, Platt confirmed he is no longer in the running.
"I formally withdrew from consideration from Austin's City Manager search as of this afternoon," Platt said in a statement sent to KVUE on Sunday. "More details coming soon."
It is not clear at this time why Platt removed himself from consideration. The city of Austin also has not released a statement about his withdrawal as of Monday morning.
Background on Austin's city manager search
In February 2023, the Austin City Council voted to fire former City Manager Spencer Cronk following his response to the winter storm earlier that month. He had also faced backlash over the city's contract with the Austin Police Association.
On the day Cronk's termination was effective, Feb. 16, 2023, the city introduced former city manager Jesús Garza as the interim city manger. Garza served as Austin's city manager from 1994 until 2002, while Kirk Watson was the mayor from 1997 to 2001.
Garza has served as interim city manager in the year since, as the city searched for a permanent city manager.
In June 2023, Watson said that the city would welcome a permanent city manager on Sept. 1, 2024. Watson said that deadline was set because the city council usually starts the budget process during the summer time and bringing a new city manager in at the beginning, middle or end of that process "is probably not fair."
In January 2024, Watson's office announced that the firm hired to find a permanent city manager, Mosaic Public Partners, planned to officially open the application process on Jan. 8. Applications closed on Feb. 12.
Meet Broadnax and Hensley
T.C. Broadnax is currently serving as the city manager of Dallas. He has served as Dallas's city manager since February 2017 and, prior to 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.
Sara Hensley is currently serving as the city manager of Denton. She 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.
What happens next in the search?
In a March 5 memo to city council members, Mayor Kirk Watson said Mosaic will contact and request that the finalists come to Austin for the next phase of the process.
The finalists will be asked to participate in some meetings with members of the professional city staff on March 25. That evening, the city will also conduct a community town hall. The location for that event is still being finalized.
On March 26, Watson and the city council will interview the finalists at City Hall.
One or more of the finalists will then be asked to return to Austin for additional discussion on April 1. Watson said he anticipates voting to direct Mosaic to negotiate a contract with a specific person on April 2. A vote will be conducted that day.