Amarillo City Council is set to hold a specially called executive session meeting on Tuesday to “discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal” of Interim City Manager Andrew Freeman.

The meeting follows a recent major shakeup of city leadership lead by Freeman. The shakeup included moving former Amarillo Chief of Police Martin Birkenfeld, along with several other department heads, to newly created Managing Director roles. Additionally, former Animal Management & Welfare Director Victoria Medley has been moved to a newly created “Director of Organizational Advancement” position within the Office of Engagement & Innovation.

Officials who have spoken to The Amarillo Pioneer have not confirmed if the recent shakeups were the trigger for the meeting.

Notably, the wording of the agenda is different from other recent meetings in which the council has evaluated Freeman’s performance. Previous agendas, such as one for an executive session meeting held on January 23rd of this year, included language about a “Performance Matrix for Interim City Manager.” This language is not present in the agenda for the upcoming meeting. Instead, the language for the upcoming meeting does seem to more closely mirror language used on the agenda for an executive session meeting held last year shortly before the city approved a separation agreement with former City Manager Jared Miller.

The city recently officially began the search for a new city manager earlier this year when the council approved a contract with search firm Baker-Tilley. Several council members had earlier expressed optimism that the search would result in hiring from within, with Mayor Cole Stanley at one point hinting that Freeman might be the right pick to officially replace Miller.

The executive session will not be open to the public. No final decision is set to be made during the meeting, which will take place at noon on Tuesday, February 20th, in the conference room at First Bank Southwest at 2401 S. Georgia. The agenda for the meeting can be found here.