The director of Seattle's Department of Transportation has been listed as one of six finalists for the position of city manager in Austin, Texas, a posting on that city's message board by Mayor Steve Adler revealed Monday.
The move would be a homecoming of sorts for the SDOT head, who attended middle and high school in Austin, and earned his masters degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas.
Before his arrival in Seattle, Kubly held administrative roles in both Chicago and Washington, D.C.'s departments of transportation. When he was tabbed to head SDOT in June 2014 by then-Mayor Ed Murray, he had been serving as acting president of Alta Bicycle Share, the company chosento run the now-shuttered Pronto in the city. His connection to Alta would later draw scrutiny — and a $10,000 fine from the city's Ethics and Elections Commission — after he failed to obtain a waiver to work on issues regarding Pronto, and didn't file a disclosure form until September of 2015.
Meanwhile, the biography forwarded by the search firm to the city touted his role as lead architect of the Move Seattle levy, and the 10-year strategic vision for transportation, which, "delivers a comprehensive strategy for connecting and enhancing the city's many ways to travel."
Next up for the finalists — including Kubly — are interviews with smaller groups of Austin City Councilmembers and those appointed to the city manager search task force on Dec. 3. The council will then cut the number of finalists in half in a meeting four days later, and those three finalists will meet with the council, the public, and city staff on Dec. 11 and 12, before a final selection is made.
This post will be updated as more information becomes available.