Amarillo City Manager Grayson Path has submitted his resignation, setting up a City Council vote Tuesday that could end his two-year tenure as the city’s top administrator.
Mayor Cole Stanley confirmed Path’s resignation Thursday, one day after council members spent more than three and a half hours behind closed doors discussing personnel matters involving the city manager.
The council has placed an item on Tuesday’s agenda to consider accepting Path’s resignation under the terms of his employment agreement.
Stanley cautioned Thursday that he could not speak for the entire council or disclose information discussed during Wednesday’s executive session. He also declined to speculate about what the council will ultimately decide.
“What I would like to speak to personally here, just quickly: Mr. Path was a selection that I helped to make several years ago. He’s a good man,” Stanley said. “I like him as a person. He’s an excellent father, a wonderful husband, and I think he’s done the best he could with the circumstances that he had to walk into.”
Stanley said more information should come from the council as a governing body when it meets Tuesday.
“I can tell you there will be a healthy discussion on Tuesday to discuss everything that’s involved,” Stanley said.
Resignation could trigger substantial severance
How the council handles Path’s resignation could carry significant financial implications for Amarillo taxpayers.
Tuesday’s agenda item specifically references Section 9.A.d of Path’s employment agreement. That provision allows Path to declare a termination if he resigns after the employer, representing a majority of the governing body, offers to accept his resignation.
Under Section 9 of the agreement, a qualifying termination requires a lump-sum severance payment equal to at least 12 months of Path’s base salary.
The agreement also calls for payment of unused vacation and other eligible accrued leave, excluding sick leave; a contribution to Path’s deferred-compensation account based on the value of eligible leave; and up to 12 months of the city’s monthly contribution toward medical insurance, subject to the agreement’s conditions.
The potential payout comes only a few years after Amarillo paid former City Manager Jared Miller a $767,000 severance package following his termination without cause in 2023.
Path was selected as Miller’s replacement in 2024 after previously serving as city manager in Paris, Texas. As Amarillo’s chief administrative officer, Path oversees more than 2,300 city employees.
Hours behind closed doors
The resignation became public following an unusually long council work session Wednesday.
Council members convened at 11 a.m. and immediately entered executive session. The closed-door discussion continued until approximately 2:30 p.m.
The only subject identified for the executive session was Path’s position. The agenda allowed council members to discuss personnel matters involving the city manager, including his appointment, employment, evaluation or reassignment.
No public action was announced before the meeting adjourned.
Stanley would not say Thursday whether Path provided a reason for resigning.
“Everything that has been submitted needs to stay privileged between the legal department and council until after the Tuesday. Then what can be released will be,” Stanley said.
He also declined to identify a possible interim city manager or lay out specific steps the council could take if Path’s resignation is accepted. Those questions, he said, will be discussed by the council Tuesday.
Stanley expressed confidence that city operations would continue in the meantime, pointing to Amarillo’s management team and staff.
Resignation follows turbulent months at City Hall
Path’s potential departure comes after months of controversies and operational problems that have put several areas of Amarillo city government under scrutiny. Neither Stanley nor the council, however, has publicly connected any of those issues to Path’s resignation.
In May, the Stinky Fire escaped the city landfill and ultimately burned 2,335 acres, destroying 52 homes and damaging another 25. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found the landfill had violated state requirements involving daily cover of deposited waste before the fire.
Path said he had not been aware of the compliance problem before the fire or the state’s notice of violation. The landfill superintendent later left city employment, and Path said the city would continue reviewing landfill operations.
City Hall also faced widespread complaints following the rollout of a new utility billing system. Some residents reported water bills two or three times higher than normal.
City officials attributed some of the problems to confusing duplicate readings displayed on billing graphs and irregular billing cycles during the transition. Path said residents would not have to pay for water they did not use, and the city temporarily suspended certain late fees and disconnections while disputed bills were addressed.
More recently, oversight of Amarillo Police Department technology came under scrutiny after former officer Christian Eder was charged with 78 counts of tampering with a government record. Authorities allege Eder improperly searched Flock Safety license-plate camera data 76 times for a person who was not connected to a police investigation.
Eder was fired following an internal investigation, and the department announced additional auditing and supervisory reviews of searches, restrictions on access to some software and shorter data-retention periods.
Asked Thursday whether those controversies played a role in the situation involving Path, Stanley said they were not his focus.
“None of that was anything that was my concern ... making sure the team’s as strong as healthy as we can have it,” Stanley said.
The city is separately considering firms to conduct a forensic audit alongside its upcoming comprehensive audit. Stanley said Thursday he expects the council to take further action on that process in October, with the goal of completing both audits by March 2027.
For now, several key questions remain unanswered — including the circumstances surrounding Path’s resignation, whether the council will accept it, who could run the city on an interim basis and exactly what Amarillo will owe Path under his contract.
