Dallas mayor says Austin manager Broadnax's exit was 'questionable,' opposes severance pay

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is disputing whether T.C. Broadnax, who recently departed as the Dallas city manager and took the same role in Austin, should receive severance pay under his employment contract, claiming that his exit from Dallas might not have been an "involuntary separation."

Broadnax, who started as Austin's city manager on May 6, served as the city manager of Dallas for seven years. After Broadnax's resignation in February, several news outlets in Dallas reported that some Dallas City Council members issued a joint statement saying they had asked him to leave due to ongoing issues with the working relationship between him and Johnson.

His employment contract with Dallas, which was obtained by the American-Statesman through the Texas Public Information Act, stated that in the event of an involuntary separation, Broadnax would receive a lump-sum payout of a year's worth of his base salary, which was around $423,000 at the time of his exit.

His leaving at the suggestion of the majority of the Dallas City Council is listed as one example of an involuntary separation that would trigger the payment clause in the contract.

In a memo sent Tuesday to Dallas City Attorney Tammy Palomino, Johnson asked Palomino to clarify whether Broadnax should get that payment.

It was unclear Thursday whether Palomino had responded to Johnson's query. The Statesman sent a public information request to the city of Dallas for written communications sent by Palomino in response to Johnson's memo.

Johnson had publicly opposed Broadnax getting this severance prior to sending the memo, at one point calling on state lawmakers to ban city managers from receiving such payouts, The Dallas Morning News reported. Johnson also led efforts two years ago to oust Broadnax from his role.

Citing a report from WFAA-TV and an April 8 memo from Broadnax to Palomino, as well as the timing of his candidacy for the top job in Austin, Johnson claims in the Tuesday memo, "It is wholly inaccurate to characterize Mr. Broadnax's separation as 'involuntary.'"

The WFAA-TV report, which was published the day Broadnax informed the Dallas City Council he was resigning, stated that Broadnax was said to have asked a Dallas City Council member to identify eight council members who would ask him to resign. The report cites four Dallas City Council members who are not named.

The April 8 memo from Broadnax shows that Dallas City Council members began approaching him to quit as early as Feb. 14, a week before he resigned. The memo was published by The Dallas Morning News.

"This timeline, as well as the friendly relationship between Mr. Broadnax and the City Councilmembers who reportedly 'suggested' he resign, indicate that Mr. Broadnax’s 'involuntary separation' occurred as reported by WFAA and was meant to ensure Mr. Broadnax could depart from the City of Dallas with severance pay shortly before pursuing and accepting a position with the City of Austin," Johnson wrote in the Tuesday memo.

Records obtained by the Statesman show Broadnax applied for the job in Austin on Feb. 25. He was named as a finalist for the position in Austin on March 5.

The Dallas city attorney's office has no comment on the matter, city of Dallas spokesperson Ariel Wallace told the Statesman in an email.

"Austin City Manager, T.C. Broadnax, will not be discussing the Dallas Mayor's opposition to severance being paid," Michele Gonzalez, a city of Austin spokesperson, told the Statesman in a statement.

In Austin, Broadnax is being paid a base salary of around $470,000, making him the highest-paid city manager in recent Austin history. He also has the highest base salary of the 10 city managers who lead the largest cities with a council-manager form of government.

Read More: Austin city manager to be highest paid among 10 largest cities with similar form of government

The Statesman reached out to all Austin City Council members for a request for comment on Johnson's memo. Ten, including the mayor, did not respond with a comment prior to the Statesman's given deadline. Council Member José “Chito” Vela's office declined to comment.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Dallas mayor opposes severance pay for Austin manager T.C. Broadnax