What's happening
Soon after replacing former City Manager Spencer Cronk four months ago, Garza oversaw the replacement of Austin's airport executive and assistant city manager for public safety. City auditors later shared that Jacqueline Yaft, chief executive of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, violated city conflict of interest rules while serving in that role—allegations she denied.
Weeks later, Garza detailed another round of prominent shifts, including more leadership adjustments and shakeups of city departments affecting a range of city operations. Garza said the moves were made with the goal of improved efficiency in city administration.
On June 9, Garza shared several additional leadership updates headlined by the appointment of a new Austin Energy head following the departure of former General Manager Jackie Sargent in late March.
“Since returning to this organization in February, I have spent considerable time assessing the strengths of our organization and identified opportunities to reorganize to ensure we are operating cohesively, effectively and efficiently,” Garza said in a statement. “I am confident the changes announced today will strengthen the city of Austin as we continually work to improve the services we provide to our residents.”
The details
Bob Kahn—formerly an Austin Energy executive as well as Electric Reliability Council of Texas president and CEO, and now serving as the Texas Municipal Power Agency's general manager—will step in as Austin Energy's next general manager effective July 3.
Kahn arrives soon after AE endured heavy scrutiny amid widespread power outages during this year's ice storm, and months after a pair of significant and controversial citywide electric rate hikes were finalized.
“I’m very excited to return to Austin Energy and look forward to working with the community and the hardworking, dedicated staff at Austin Energy to accomplish the City Council’s goals,” Kahn said.
In addition to the civic power utility's new management, Garza also announced:
- Austin Resource Recovery Director Ken Snipes is taking over as director of Austin's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management beginning June 19. Snipes led ARR since October 2019.
- José Roig was appointed as the Development Services Department's permanent director. Roig was serving in that role on an interim basis since early 2023, and has overseen the integration of code enforcement work and an analysis of the city's often-maligned permitting and development review processes.
- Michele Middlebrook-Gonzalez is Austin's chief strategic communications and external relations officer—a newly created position. Middlebrook-Gonzalez comes to the city following consulting work at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.
- David Gray, assistant director at the Economic Development Department, was assigned to review Austin's "broad spectrum of programs, policies and funding" related to homelessness. While on that special assignment, Garza said Gray will work with the Homeless Strategy Office and other relevant departments, and report to Assistant City Manager Stephanie Hayden-Howard.
In a June 12 newsletter, Mayor Kirk Watson billed the changes as part of his own push to shake up Austin's government after he said it became "painfully clear" that many key roles were not filled by the right people.
"The council directive to Jesús [Garza] was to stabilize our city government and get those basic operations of the city running well. We asked him to fix the problems of the past so that our next permanent city manager can focus on moving the city forward," Watson said.
The formal pursuit of Austin's next city manager could begin later this summer after a search firm for the role—the unelected chief executive of city government—is finalized.
