Who is Spencer Cronk? Here's what we know about Austin's city manager

Editor's note: Spencer Cronk was fired as Austin's city manager on Feb. 15 after a City Council vote. This story was originally published Feb. 6.

City Manager Spencer Cronk's employment will be evaluated this week, according to a tweet by Austin Mayor Kirk Watson on Monday.

More than 20,000 Austin Energy customers are still without power Monday afternoon after a severe winter storm caused tree limbs to droop and snap, damaging power lines in the process.

The utility company and city officials have faced criticism from the community, which led to an apology from Watson for the city's response, saying that it was unacceptable and promised change going forward.

Who is Spencer Cronk?

Spencer Cronk current serves as city manager for the City of Austin. Cronk was hired to be Austin's top administrator in 2017 after an extensive search, and started work in early 2018.

Previously, Cronk served as the Minneapolis city coordinator, where he "directed the management of Minneapolis city government by assisting the mayor and City Council in defining city policy and establishing priorities, mobilizing department heads and staff to implement the mayor and council’s priorities, and working to strengthen the management and administrative systems of the city," according to his biography on the city website.

Cronk received a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a graduate of Harvard University's Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.

In December, the Austin City Council has signed off on a 10% pay raise for Cronk, increasing his annual base salary from $350,001 to $388,190. That pay increase did not come without debate among council members. While eight voted in favor of the raise, Alison Alter, Kathie Tovo and Paige Ellis abstained.

Frozen trees, icy roads and outages:See the damage across Austin during winter storm

Spencer Cronk's job being evaluated due to Austin power outages, mayor and city council members say

Last week's devastating ice storm knocked out power for more than 177,000 Austin Energy customers. Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent described the damage from the storm as "hurricane-level devastation."

In a Monday post on social media platform Twitter, Watson write that “there must be accountability" for the length of the power outages.

"To all our Austin citizens who are furious about the ongoing power outage, you’re right,” Watson said. "While the members of the City Council answer to the people of Austin, the city manager answers to us."

Watson joined three other council members in sponsoring an emergency item on Thursday’s City Council meeting agenda to review the situation.

This is not the first time council members have raised concerns about Cronk's job performance. In December, when the City Council was considering Cronk's pay raise, Alter raised concerns a staffing shortage at the 911 call center and vacancies across multiple city departments, as well as Cronk's decision to keep former Austin Police Chief Brian Manley on staff even after the council took a vote of no confidence on Manley.

“I’ve had deep concerns with the (city) manager’s performance for over two years,” Alter said. “And until now I have tried to work behind the scenes and out of the public eye. ... I am dissatisfied with the manager’s performance, and I can no longer save it for behind closed doors.”

Editorial: Austin Energy, Mayor Watson failed communications test

What are City Manager Spencer Cronk's job responsibilities?

Austin operates under a "council-manager" system of government, meaning the mayor and City Council members are responsible for legislative functions while the city manager is tasked with overseeing and carrying out the council's legislative and policy objectives, according to the city website.

Austin's city manager is responsible for:

• Preparing a $4.2 billion budget for council consideration and managing its passage

• Managing a staff of more than 14,000 including overseeing recruiting and hiring

• Directing operations

• Recommending policies and programs to City Council, and carrying out Council policies

• Spearheading key initiatives

Austin's mayor is responsible for:

• Charter duties such as presiding and voting

• Leading goal process

• Leading policy priority process

• Leads council to an effective governance team

Can the Austin City Council fire Spencer Cronk?

While the Austin City Council can't dictate specific actions to Cronk, it does have the authority to fire the city manager if it deems his job performance is failing to meet its expectations.

A majority vote by the council would be required to terminate Cronk's employment. On the 11-member council, that would mean at least six council members would have to vote in favor of firing him. On Monday, Watson and three other council members — Alison Alter, Chito Vela and Vanessa Fuentes — co-sponsored the resolution calling for the council to evaluate Cronk's job performance, while Council Member Paige Ellis told the Statesman that she is "strongly considering" voting to fire Cronk. If those five council members did, in fact, vote to terminate Cronk's employment, only one of the council's remaining six members would have to side with that group to make the firing happen.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Who is Spencer Cronk? What we know about the Austin city manager