Meet the City Manager Candidates
Meet the City Manager Candidates
City of Austin is hosting a public event to introduce the candidates for Austin’s next City Manager.
Austinites are invited to meet and hear from the two finalists for the Austin City Manager position on Monday, March 25.
The two candidates under consideration, T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley, will be introduced at the Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive. The event begins at 6 p.m. and doors will open to the public at 5:30 p.m. Free parking will be provided at the adjacent parking garage, which can be accessed from Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Middle Fiskville Road or East Highland Mall Boulevard.
T.C. Broadnax Jr. began serving as Dallas City Manager on February 1, 2017.
Broadnax is an International City/County Management Association (ICMA) credentialed manager that has more than 30 years of local government management experience.
In Dallas, Broadnax is responsible for more than 15,000 employees, and a budget of $4.62 billion with an emphasis on core values of service – Empathy, Ethics, Excellence, Engagement, and Equity.
As a leader responsive to the needs of the community, Broadnax has worked to improve police training in alignment with the principles of 21st Century Policing. He successfully developed crisis response programs such as the RIGHT Care Program (Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team) to address social and behavioral issues and established the City’s first Office of Community Police Oversight.
Among his other accomplishments are the adoption and implementation of several “firsts” in Dallas: Racial Equity Plan, Comprehensive Housing Plan, Economic Development Strategy and Incentive Policy, Strategic Mobility Plan, and Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan.
Prior to Dallas, he served as City Manager of Tacoma, WA from 2012 through 2017, where he was responsible for more than 2,200 employees, and a biennial budget of $1.9 billion. Prior to Tacoma, he served as Assistant City Manager in San Antonio, TX for 5 years, and Assistant City Manager in Pompano Beach, FL for 10 years.
Broadnax earned his bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Communications at Washburn University, in Topeka, KS and a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of North Texas.
Sara Hensley was appointed as the first female City Manager for Denton, Texas in March 2022. Denton is a full-service city including its own electric, water, wastewater, and solid waste utility departments with a total budget of $1.9 Billion and an AA+ Bond Rating. Denton is a progressive-thinking, diverse, and culturally vibrant community, and home to two universities: the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University.
Sara joined the City of Denton in May 2019. While working in Denton, Sara worked closely with the Mayor and Council, community partners, and staff to find creative ways to solve community issues.
Accomplishments include:
- Hired the City’s First Chief Strategy Officer to focus on the use of data to inform decisions and implemented the City’s Strategic Plan with over 100 active initiatives and department scorecards to monitor community service levels.
- Created a goal for the City of Denton to be the employer of choice, by focusing on improving benefits including the implementation of the City’s first Paid Parental Leave, additional paid holidays, and working with the Council to approve an 8-million-dollar compensation increase for City employees.
- First emergency shelter for persons experiencing homelessness with onsite wrap-around services provided by non-profits.
- Partnered with Texas Women’s University and the Bezos Foundation to provide capital funding to create a tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschool.
- Implemented the City’s first Housing Strategic Toolkit
Sara is a credentialed City Manager. While in Austin, she led large-scale teams in multiple program areas. Sara worked in several large cities throughout her career.