Austin NAACP investigating discrimination complaints from black city employees
Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder said he has been getting several complaints from African-American employees for the City of Austin. Departments including code enforcement, human resources and the African-American Quality of Life Initiative.
He said the complaints range from threatening emails to disparaging comments. In a city with a black population under ten percent and shrinking, Linder says the lack of intervention from city leaders has allowed the harassment to carry on for years.
He is now investigating the claims. “They are going to harass black leadership like they want to. Nobody says anything, except from the outside in,” said Linder.
When new city manager Spencer Cronk came to Austin, he announced that he would realign his team of assistant city managers. Cronk's office tells Fox 7 Austin, those people were told to reapply for their jobs. Doctor Mark Washington was one of them.
“When it came to the black community, they showed no sensitivity to people like Dr. Mark Washington, who is our link to city council. He has worked here for eight years doing his job here but also his job out there. He was also the lead on the African-American Quality of Life,” said Linder.
“Elaine Hart, Greg Canally…it’s nothing personal, but these folks have been here a long time. They know the finances, and they are going to help Mr. Cronk on the numbers,” said Linder.
Linder says former city manager Marc Ott, and assistant city manager Anthony Snipes were also pushed out.
“You know about Anthony Snipes who made a basic mistake a few years ago and made national news. People talk about sexism and I respect that, but I'm also worried about racism,” said Linder.
Cronk's office released this statement that reads:
“I came to Austin knowing of the deep history of racial inequity. It’s something that we’ve only begun to unpack and address head-on. I also know that time is of the essence, and am committed to ensure that our efforts are relevant, meaningful and sustained over time. I believe that the way we’ve realigned our budget to address quality of life recommendations is a step in the right direction, but know that the crucial conversations need to continue both inside the organization and with our community leaders.
From the beginning, I’ve said that we need to amplify the voices of those who may feel unheard or marginalized in Austin. It’s the only path to making Austin the equitable and welcoming city that our council envisions.”
District One council member Ora Houston was present at Thursday’s press conference.
“When you say you believe in equity and you believe in anti-racism and you believe in creating a just society, you put money behind those that have been left behind,” said Houston.
“If you can build a soccer field, and clean up downtown, why can't you address East Austin, and black people, and treat people correctly?” said Linder.
Cronk's office said the only reason Elaine Hart was kept on his team, is because she is serving as deputy city manager. That's while he looks for someone else to hire. Elaine Hart is set to retire soon. His office they do not have any say over the Greg Canally’s position as deputy chief financial officer.