Gardner’s exit closes a short but prominent chapter in Austin. He was named the city's deputy chief information officer in February 2025 after arriving from Dallas, where he had served as CISO, chief technology officer and interim CIO. Three months later, Austin elevated him again, naming him CISO after Shirley Erp’s retirement.
Austin officials later confirmed that Gardner was among three top IT employees fired in late March. The city told The Austin Chronicle that the firings had nothing to do with data security and were instead the result of the city manager’s ongoing review, adding that no further details were available pending completion of that review.
Clifton’s LinkedIn profile says he has served as interim CISO since March 2026, stepping into the role after previously serving as Austin’s cybersecurity officer for digital risk. Before that, he held positions with the city as governance, risk and compliance manager, enterprise security architect and information security analyst, giving him more than a decade inside Austin government security operations.
His background also includes private-sector and federal experience. According to his profile, Clifton is also director of cybersecurity at Athlete Foundry and previously spent more than 10 years with NASA in roles including deputy department information security officer and deputy department IT business manager.
His listed certifications include Certified Chief Information Security Officer, Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control and GIAC Continuous Monitoring Certification. He holds a Master of Arts in digital media studies from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, a Bachelor of Science in IT from Western Governors University and a Bachelor of Music in sound recording technology from Texas State University.
This story originally appeared in Industry Insider — Texas, which is part of e.Republic, Government Technology’s parent company.
