The Daily Hustle: 5/20/10

Under David Smith, the city legal department has received its fair share of criticism from the Hustle and elsewhere. However, it was the unparalleled clusterfuck of the Keypoint release that finally landed Smith in the jackpot, with Marc Ott shoving him out the door into early retirement.

City Manager Ott said yesterday that following recent conversations with Smith, the city attorney submitted a memo stating he would retire June 19, and be out on accumulated vacation time until then. Asked if we would again see Smith on the dais, Ott said “You will not.”

The subject of those conversations, unsurprisingly, “had to do with the interpretation and application of contract language,” Ott said, “the extent to which information could be released and not be released.” When the city finally released the unredacted Keypoint investigation into the police killing of Nathaniel Sanders II – the same day the Chronicle published a 2,400 word transcript of the damning report accusing shooter Officer Leonardo Quintana of potentially criminal “reckless” behavior – it arrived with the ass-covering title “City clarifies contract language to increase transparency.” Said ass-covering was largely for Smith, who until that point had argued that the city was legally prevented from releasing the full report, but a “clarification” between legal and the police union ironed everything out. But as has since been pointed out, a separate independent report into the fatal police shooting of Sophia King – one absolving the officer – was released years ago to no legal objections.

Ott said Smith's decision comes “in light of recent events and concerns about how some things have been handled by his office, and, I believe, some failure on his part … We relied upon his interpretation of the contract language … Obviously a lot of controversy centered around what could be disclosed and what couldn't be disclosed, and I think Mr. Smith wishes that he had provided clearer interpretation and application and guidance for the city in regard to that language and how it applied to that particular case.”

When asked whether anyone else bared responsibility, or could've pushed harder for the report's release – which for months was supposedly legally impossible, but then was accomplished over the course of one afternoon of conversations – Ott bristled somewhat. “The Citizen Review Panel made a request of the City Manager to commission an independent report. So when you say that it wasn't disclosed that really isn't true. The fact of the matter is is that when it was completed, the Citizen Review Panel had the complete report. … They had the unredacted version of the report. They had all of the information, and that's the reason the report was done, it was done at their request. They had it, and obviously our police chief had it, and our police monitor had it. And that is consistent with the process that has been in place for a good number of years now.” However, answering another question on the topic of responsibility, Ott said “I'm the city manager and the city attorney reports to me. Having said that though, I'm not a lawyer … I have to rely on the corporate counsel, as does all of our employees.”

Smith's dismissal comes at a politically sensitive time for the city – and the city manager – as Keypoint's report and the city's delayed response continue to cause controversy. Earlier this week Lee Leffingwell sent a memo to Ott requesting “a detailed written accounting of city staff’s decision-making process regarding the KeyPoint report, beginning with the decision to commission the report last year and ending with the decision to publicly release the report last week.” He also asked Ott “to address each of the legal issues surrounding staff’s handling of the report,” and, somewhat pointedly, asking the report "specifically address the role of the City Manager’s office in commissioning, receiving, reviewing and releasing the report.” The mayor ends by requesting the information be sent to him by the end of the week. (Leffingwell issued a statement last night, reading “I was informed of David's decision by the City Manager late this afternoon. David has served the City of Austin capably for many years. I respect his service to our community, and I wish him all the best.”)

While Ott certainly, ahem, addressed the legal issues Leffingwell raised in his memo, it's just as certain the prevailing political winds around City Hall demanded someone's head roll.

Ott says he is immediately appointing Karen Kennard as acting city attorney. And also: did TDH call this one, or what?

What the hell else is happening?

On the city calendar: No City Council meeting today, but the city’s Housing Authority board meets in the Central Office at the Austin Housing Authority, 1124 S. IH-35. 12pm.

The Waller Creek Citizen Advisory Committee is meeting in the Boards and Commissions room at City Hall, 301 W. 2nd. 6pm. They’ll get appraised on the blight clearing Reclaim Waller Creek operation, and a tax increment financing (TIF) analysis.

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