The Grand Rapids City Commission has appointed the city's first African-American city manager.

Mark Washington was chosen over city managers of Novi and Ferndale. He comes to the West Michigan city from Austin, Texas, where he most recently served as assistant city manager for three years, according to a city news release.

He had been with the city of Austin since 2009 and in local government for more than 20 years.

Former city manager Greg Sundstrom retired in February after eight years in the position and 35 in government service. Former Deputy City Manager Eric DeLong has served in the interim, and Washington is expected to start in September.

"I was very impressed with all the interviews. That said, I was happy to know that Mark Washington was very familiar with GARE (Government Alliance on Race and Equity) and that he set up an equity office in Austin," Ruth Kelly, second ward commissioner, said in the release. "Equity is one of our main focuses."

Washington will manage about 1,500 city employees, seven labor unions and 13 collective bargaining agreements, and a budget of $590 million for the city of approximately 200,000 residents.

He learned about Grand Rapids in 2016 through his work for the city of Austin and Racial Equity Here, an initiative for improving race equality. Grand Rapids has also served as a pilot city for the project.

"In looking at the uniqueness of this opportunity and the similarities with my experience and how I can help, I believe I am purposefully positioned for this opportunity," Washington said in the release.

He and Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss were not immediately available for comment Thursday.

"The commission said they're interested in diversity and ending discrimination and they didn't just search for a figurehead," Lyonel LaGrone, policy liaison for Grand Rapids-based community revitalization agency LINC Up and civil rights activist, told MLive on Wednesday. "They hired someone to run the city and to do something about discrimination."

Washington was selected out of a pool of five candidates, according to the release: Tom Almonte, acting interim deputy city manager and managing director of public services for Grand Rapids; Peter Auger, city manager of Novi; Michael Cernech, city manager of Tamarac, Fla.; and April McGrath Lynch, city manager of Ferndale.