MEMORANDUM
TO:

Mayor and City Council

FROM:

Marc A. Ott, City Manager

DATE:

January 5, 2016

SUBJECT:

Recent Media Interview

I am disappointed in the recent article titled “Austin Energy chief gives candid assessment of
utility, city politics”. I was troubled by many of the things conveyed in the article and feel a
need to communicate my thoughts on this issue to you.
First, I would never expect a member of my executive team to go to the media and share their
opinions via an “exit interview” format. I would hope that any member of my team would honor
the organization’s effort to improve by sharing their thoughts during our internal “exit interview”
process. I assure you that I did NOT endorse this public process and was only informed about it
after it had occurred.
The opinions shared in this article are not reflective of my perspective. For example, I
completely disagree that the City Council is “naïve” about utility issues. This Council has gotten
up to speed very quickly and has engaged in “utility issues” on many fronts. Any newly elected
official will spend time getting familiar with the organization, but painting you as “naïve” is a
disservice.
I apologize for the characterization of City Council conveyed in this article and assure you that
the executive team does not share this opinion.

CC:

Executive Team