Art Acevedo is not taking the job in Austin. Repeat: Art Acevedo is not taking the job in Austin.
Acevedo notified Interim City Manager Jesús Garza Tuesday morning, following a firestorm about his appointment as an assistant city manager over the Austin Police Department (APD). On Tuesday afternoon, he posted a statement on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
“It is clear that this newly created position has become a distraction from the critical work ahead for our city, the Austin Police Department, and the Austin Police Association,” Acevedo said in part, adding that he has always loved and admired the members of APD and, “as a long time member of their extended family, I will continue to support them in any way I can. Their well being has and will always [be] a priority for me, which is one of the reasons I have made this decision.”
I was actually surprised by the reaction to this, but haven’t had a chance to cover it. Many city leaders said, in essence, they felt bushwhacked by the decision and resented not being consulted.
It was also particularly upsetting to victims of sexual assault. The city had a special apology ceremony this afternoon:
The DNA lab problems, and the case mishandling, all took place under Chief Acevedo’s watch.
If we find out anything about what he’s doing next, we’ll post another Art Watch here. To be honest, we’re a little surprised he never got a position in the Biden administration…
I am concerned about bad labs and DNA testing. At one time, the FBI had problems with their lab, and it should have been the very best in the country, if not in most of the world, save perhaps Japan and Israel.
I posted on the book of face today to my sister who supports the death penalty for heinous crimes against children, etc. I told her that I used to support the death penalty until it was estimated that up to 7% of all death row prisoners are likely not guilty based on how DNA evidence has ruled out different inmates who are scheduled to be put to death.
While I truly believe that there are certainly crimes that deserve the death penalty, I don’t support it if we are likely killing innocent people. Perhaps 1 person per year who dies that was innocent could be overlooked, although it should not be. But a full 7% of the nation’s death row population is simply not right and is enough for me to change my mind about the death penalty.
That being said, I could see myself losing my right frame of mind and harming someone that raped or killed my daughters or granddaughters. That would of course not be right or fair, but it is just how it is. I hope that I am never put into that position.
I owe everyone a longer post about the death penalty and how I feel about it. Especially these days.
But we’re not very far apart.
I too was shocked at the sudden appointment of Acevedo to a $271K job, but more shocked that several in the Austin City Council also came out against the appointment, not just the one councilmember I was expecting.
I suppose I can give props to Acevedo for reading the mood and turning it down. However, he had to have been involved in the creation of the position early on, for the Interim City Manager to custom-build the position.