Town Hall Live Stream: Meet Your 2 Austin City Manager Finalists

AUSTIN, TX — The two finalists for the top administrative job at City Hall will be front and center at a Tuesday town hall that will also be live streamed.

Spencer Cronk and Howard Lazarus are the two top contenders for the city manager's job that's been vacant for more than a year after Marc Ott resigned to take a job in Washington, D.C. The city originally had a list of six finalists before whittling it down to the final two candidates.

Early in the interviewing process, the city had garnered widespread criticism over perceived secretiveness in the search for a city manager. In light of public pressure, Austin Mayor Steve Adler released the previous list of six contenders days before the two finalists emerged.

While the live stream pitting both men isn't likely to generate pandemonium like the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor match-up in August, it's still of great interest to many residents worried about their city's stewardship.

So who are these two men? Here's the tale of the tape:

• Howard Lazarus is the one finalist to have worked in Austin, serving eight years as the public works director. He departed last year to become city administrator of Ann Arbor, Mich. and formerly served as engineering director in Newark, N.J. Lazarus served in the military, after graduating from West Point, according to the Ann Arbor News.
• Spencer Cronk has been city administrator of Minneapolis since 2014. A native of Minnesota, Cronk previously worked for the city of New York, and later as a commissioner in Minnesota's Department of Administration.

Related story: Austin Mayor Releases Names Of City Manager Job Finalists

For those wishing to attend the event in person, it's scheduled at the Austin Convention Center at 500 E. Cesar Chavez St. on Tuesday, Dec. 12, beginning at 7 p.m. The convention center doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Free parking will be provided at the parking garages at 601 E. 5th St. and 201 E. 2nd St.

The town hall will include formal presentations from both candidates, a moderated talk and a Q&A. The town hall will air live on ATXN-TV and on the city's website and Facebook.

Call it the Rhetorical Mangonel at the Capital. The Committee in Bat City. The Epiplexis of Central Texas. Now, let's get ready to rumble!

>>> Image via Shutterstock

Editor's note: Mangonel is medieval artillery used during sieges or a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles, while epiplexis is a rhetorical device in which the speaker reproaches the audience in order to incite or convince them even though it's unlikely either candidate will utilize this rhetorical device while trying to ingratiate themselves with the local audience. Rhyming is hard sometimes.