Austin City Council discusses 'terms and conditions' of City Manager Spencer Cronk's job

Austin City Council had a busy agenda Thursday. They discussed the terms and conditions of City Manager Spencer Cronk's job in the aftermath of last week's ice storm.

This happened in executive session behind closed doors. A decision is not expected Thursday.

Dozens of public commenters expressed their anger in the City Council meeting.

"Why did it take a long time to get the electricity back on?" Gus Pena said. "You failed us."

RELATED: Austin City Council to evaluate employment of City Manager Cronk in wake of ice storm

"We're going to have a conversation with our city manager to assess how might we have done differently in this disaster, what needs to be changed, and really have that tough conversation that we need to have," District 2 Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said.

She says it's up to the local government to make sure a response like this doesn't happen again.

"When you're literally in the dark, and you're not hearing about what's going on, when your power's going to get restored, people lose trust in their local government," she said.

Cronk was not available for an interview Thursday. His staff instead directed us to remarks from a Tuesday work session.

He said in part, "I offer my heartfelt apologies for any shortcomings in our response. I want you to know that I am committed to doing everything in my power to support our community."

He also said they will improve disaster response and will review the budget and resources.

Thursday, Council approved an audit on Austin Energy's vegetation management plan. District 6 Council Member Mackenzie Kelly proposed the audit for Austin Energy's storm response and vegetation management plan. It was amended and passed with just the vegetation part.

"Our constituents are frustrated. We're frustrated. Constituents have been demanding that we take some form of action now, and not later, related to Austin Energy," Kelly said in the meeting.

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