2 council members: After bombings, hire interim police chief for good
Within hours of Wednesday’s announcement that local, state and federal officers had stopped a serial bomber whose attacks had plagued Austin for weeks, Council Member Delia Garza was lobbying to hire interim police Chief Brian Manley permanently.
“Our community has been through what is arguably the biggest public safety crisis we have experienced,” Garza, a former firefighter, wrote on the council’s online message board. “While many watched the news safely from home, ... on edge, the men and women of law enforcement ran to the bombs and explosions.”
Garza called for the council’s “full support” to make Manley the permanent chief and accused colleagues of slowing efforts to reach a contract with the police union. Council Member Leslie Pool quickly echoed both sentiments.
Austin has been without a permanent police chief since Art Acevedo left to lead Houston’s police department in November 2016. Manley, Acevedo’s former chief of staff, has served as the interim police chief while the council left the position open while it hired a new city manager. City Manager Spencer Cronk began at the city last month.
Hiring a police chief is the duty of the city manager, but the City Council can veto the manager’s choice.
“I would expect that you will hear from me more on the status of my selection process in the coming weeks,” Cronk said in a statement Wednesday.
An Austin native who rose through the police department’s ranks after beginning as a patrol officer, Manley and his officers have drawn mixed reviews for their handling of the bombings. After the first March 2 blast killed 38-yearold Anthony Stephen House, police called the explosion an isolated incident or accidental.
Manley apologized during a community meeting last week for a suggestion by investigators that House’s death could have been a suicide. Some activists questioned whether the police handled the bombing that killed House — who was African-American and lived in East Austin — less seriously than they would have if it had happened elsewhere.
Garza said it was “a valid concern” that racial and geographic biases could have initially affected the investigation. But, she said, “it’s hard to know there’s a serial action until the serial part starts happening.” She praised Manley’s professionalism, compassion and humility both in responding to those criticisms and throughout the investigation itself.
Austin council members in December had rejected a 201819 police contract over concerns about costs and police oversight requirements. In her post, Garza pointed to a resolution on Thursday’s agenda directing the city manager to create a police staffing plan as an example of a meaningless council action that slows negotiations. She declared herself ready to approve any contract the city manager presents.
Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, one of the resolution’s sponsors, said the goal is to make sure approved positions were budgeted.
“Those of us who are co-sponsors have been working on this resolution since before the bombings occurred,” he said. “No number of resolutions will make the negotiations go faster or slower.”