(Credit: City of Austin)
Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk has announced the finalists for the second group of Assistant City Manager positions.
The two positions being hired now are the Assistant City Managers who will oversee the City’s efforts around Safety and Mobility, two of the strategic outcomes that are part of the City’s Strategic Direction 2023.
“I am excited to continue filling my executive team with individuals that will champion the City’s Strategic Direction and work closely with our community,” said Cronk.
Last summer, Cronk issued a memo outlining the restructuring of the City Manager’s Office around the outcomes in the Strategic Direction 2023. It also detailed the process for an open recruitment for four Assistant City Manager positions and one Deputy City Manager. The process began in Fall 2018 with the recruitment of the first two ACM positions overseeing economic opportunity and affordability, as well as health & environment and culture & lifelong learning. The two candidates hired for these positions, Rodney Gonzales and Chris Shorter, were announced in late December.
The City released a survey asking the community what skills and characteristics they felt were most important for City leaders to possess. The responses to the survey helped build the job posting and candidate profiles.
Cronk also solicited additional feedback from the quality of life commissions and with community groups related to the areas of responsibility of each Assistant City Manager.
“The online feedback and the meetings I had in person were critical in developing the profiles and the process for selecting these leaders,” said Cronk. “Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their thoughts with me throughout this process.”
Interviews with the finalists for the two Assistant City Manager positions will occur in the coming weeks.
The recruitment for the Deputy City Manager, overseeing the priority Strategic Outcome called Government That Works For All, started earlier this year.
Safety Assistant City Manager Finalists:
- Rey Arellano, current Assistant City Manager
- Genaro “Chip” Iglesias, Managing Partner and Chair of Ballard Partners Local Government Practice
- Gina Montes, Assistant City Manager for Operations for the City of Avondale, Arizona
- Ronnelle Paulsen, Assistant Director at the Austin Fire Department
Mobility Assistant City Manager Finalists:
- Greg Canally, Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the City of Austin
- Chris Chen, Assistant Director of Engineering Services at Austin Water
- Gina N. Fiandaca, Commissioner of the City of Boston Transportation Department
- Richard Mendoza, Public Works Director for the City of Austin
- Michael Rogers, City of Dallas Transportation Director
- Robert Spillar, Director of the Austin Transportation Department
