Meeting on Dallas City Manager Search Starts With Council Members’ Vows For Transparency, Ends With Closed-Session Discussions

The process of hiring a search firm to identify qualified city manager candidates ought to be a simple one. The Dallas City Council did it just seven years ago when T.C. Broadnax was brought on board. 

Now that Broadnax announced his resignation last week, effective June 3, it’s clear that elected officials want to be thorough and intentional. However, they’re not necessarily on the same page when it comes to finding a replacement for the highest-ranking city official.   

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Dallas City Council members met Monday as the Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs and took the first steps in issuing a request for proposals for a search firm. 

A dueling meeting, called by council members Jaime Resendez, Jaynie Schultz, and Adam Bazaldua is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday. The agenda looks similar to Monday’s, with the addition of a discussion about naming Deputy City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to the interim post. 

It’s unclear if a quorum will be present on Tuesday, as Mayor Eric Johnson asked that the city manager discussions be handled by the Administrative Affairs Committee. Johnson did not attend Monday’s meeting and said he won’t be there Tuesday. 

Administrative Affairs Committee Chair Tennell Atkins said Monday he’s been around a long time and believes in following process and procedure. 

“I know we have another special-called meeting tomorrow but we might be able to resolve this today if we work together,” he said. 

A few council members implied Monday that the process thus far has been handled poorly and behind closed doors. 

“My hope is that we stay focused on the process and procedures and not allow personalities to get in the way,” said District 2 Councilman Jesse Moreno. 

Another Administrative Affairs Committee meeting will be held before the council recesses for spring break, Atkins said. The council recess runs from March 11-22. 

Following Monday’s two-hour meeting, the committee adjourned into closed session. 

Scope of Services And Stakeholder Engagement For City Manager Search

Human Resources Director Nina Arias and Director of Procurement Danielle Thompson reviewed a draft document that included a scope of services and named four executive search firms, including Affion Public, the firm that brought Broadnax to Dallas seven years ago.  

CandysDirt.com requested the document from Arias but did not immediately receive a response. 

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The document covered stakeholder engagement, community input, and diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices — all of which appear to be priorities among council members. A local advisory committee can be tapped to make recommendations and provide input, Arias said. 

District 13 Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis suggested that public engagement could be done concurrently at a local level while the search firm is seeking qualified candidates. 

“The search process … gives us time to be developing our criteria, what we believe the next city manager should be, and designing our public engagement process,” Willis said. “There are two components that the search firm will go into the marketplace with. We have our nuts-and-bolts job description, which is what HR has. These are all of the duties and responsibilities of a city manager. Then you have the marketing package that the search firm will use … That’s where the city has an opportunity to offer our personality and our vision.” 

Atkins asked that council members provide suggestions about the search and their priorities to staff by March 8. 

District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn said she was concerned about transparency and asked that council input regarding the search firm and the hire of a new manager be put in writing. 

Procurement and Timeline For City Manager Search 

Willis said she’d like to see a new manager in place by November. Mendelsohn countered that not only will the hire take longer than nine months, it should take longer than that. 

“This is the most important job, not just at City Hall but in our entire city,” Mendelsohn said. “We need to follow actual process and procedure and not rush to just get it filled. It’s quite clear this is going to take at least a year.”

Thompson said a request for proposals could be issued for a search firm in March, pending council approval. 

Atkins pointed out that the Dallas City Council controls the timeline. 

“We are the policymakers; it’s up to us,” he said. 

Thompson explained that contracts don’t just go through HR and Procurement, they also have to be reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office, which has its own set of timelines. 

Mendelsohn said the process doesn’t have to be so cumbersome. 

“This is exactly what’s wrong with City Hall,” she said. “I’m sorry. This doesn’t have to be sequential. Many of these things … can happen concurrently. We’ve built this bureaucracy to take this long. This is exactly what I hope our next city manager will work mightily to reinvent.”