A Look at Where One Candidate for Dallas City Manager Lives: Mark McDaniel

There are five fabulous finalists vying for the Dallas City manager’s job, and the Dallas City Council soon picks one to be our next fearless fiscal leader. Dang it, they were out for the public to see Tuesday at six, I should have gone down to City Hall but Wilonsky did a pretty cool round-up. All but one would have to relocate.

Jelynne Leblanc-Burley is from San Antonio, where she is the President/CEO of JLB Group, a consulting firm providing professional services in the areas of talent development, project management, and leadership training. She was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Delivery Officer for CPS Energy, the nation’s largest municipally owned energy company. I’ll have to check BCAD to find her house. By the way, whenever I have dealt with CPS, the company has been wonderful.

Maura Black Sullivan hails from Chattanooga, Tennessee, gorgeous place, where she is the city’s Chief Operating Officer, reports directly to the Mayor, and runs the day to day operations of the Chattanooga city government with a $200 million budget. She was also the deputy manager for the city of Memphis.

T.C.Broadnax hails from the northwest, where he is the city manager for Tacoma, Washington. He has twenty-three years of city/county management experience and currently manages a billion dollar budget.

James Twombly has been the City Manager of Tulsa since 2009. He oversees a $700 million budget and has experience in brokering successful police and fire labor relations in Tulsa and in other cities.

And then there is Mark McDaniel of Dallas. He’s the current Dallas Assistant City Manager, but has only been in Dallas since 2014. He came to us from Tyler. McDaniel is reportedly the favored child with City Council folk. He told WFAA-TV he’s been in the city management business 30 years in six different Texas cities, and wants Dallas to be the next. Thinks managing our city would be a capstone for his career.

When Mark and his wife, Cynthia, move to Dallas from Tyler, they settled on a home at 6807 LaVista Drive with a great view of Lakewood Country Club golf course on a verdantly leafy 59 by 145 ft lot. Look at those trees! He is a nature man!

Though the home was built in 1949, it was remodeled extensively in 2005 and the McDaniels did not tear it down. As empty nesters, they enjoy 2206 square feet, three bedrooms, two baths, and golf course proximity. The home can easily get larger, too, by adding a second story. The McDaniels paid $385,000 for a trade that started at $399,900. Whoo hoo we like those negotiating skills! And we like what the McDaniels have done with the front of the house; painted over that red brick for a charming result.

Also, the house is super walkable, in one of the best locations in the area for walkability, in fact.

And to be honest, Mark looks like the type of guy who probably walks a lot.

These photos are of the house when the McDaniels bought it two years ago; interiors may have changed drastically. I think it’s important to look at where these candidates live…