Sunday, December 15, 2024

Good evening, :

A Dallas city manager search that has had its share of embarrassing moments unraveled in recent days.

The latest cracks in the process came to light during a Thursday morning meeting of a City Council committee overseeing the search and led by Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins. Council members took turns pressing a hired consultant from Baker Tilly on why his team put forth four “semifinalists” earlier this year without giving City Council members a longer list of candidates to study and choose from.

The consultant said those four, including interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, are the best of the 50 applicants from across the country. He noted that some potentially strong applicants appeared to be turned off by November City Charter amendments pushed by outside interests (imagine that), including a failed attempt to make it easier to fire the city manager based on an unscientific poll of residents every year.

It was not until Thursday morning that most Council members saw the full list of 50 applicants, which one council member called “embarrassing.”

Atkins is serving his 16th and final year on City Council and is one of the few with prior city manager hiring experience. He said the committee would have more discussion of final candidates and the plan going forward at a 1 p.m. Monday meeting.

But on Friday morning, Council members Paula Blackmon, Jaynie Schultz and Gay Donnell Willis — none of whom are members of Atkins’ committee overseeing the process — used a City Charter mechanism to pre-empt tomorrow’s committee meeting. According to their memo setting a separate full City Council meeting at 9 a.m. and the posted agenda, that meeting will include interviews with the four semifinalists, including Tolbert, and a potential public vote on who to hire for the position.

Should a vote happen tomorrow, it would be the first time in recent history that a city manager search included no public engagement with any candidates. The consultant noted on Thursday that they had planned for at least three community meetings as part of the process.

A statement issued on Friday by Council members Blackmon, Schultz, and Willis is included below.

Read on for more on:

• A boost for Downtown Dallas tied to the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

• A big public subsidy for a West End mixed-use development.

• Why Dallas City Council members voted to cut funding from the Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT).

⚡ Highlights From Last Week’s Meetings of Interest:

Dallas City Council members last Wednesday:

• Approved item 27, an ordinance granting a private license for installation of 10 new street lights, landscaping and irrigation surrounding the new Dallas County parking garage at 700 Jackson Street.

• Approved item 51, a $49 million City subsidy for the $103 million West End Lofts project, a mixed-use, mixed-income, and transit-oriented development at 805 Elm Street, 711 Elm Street, and 211 N. Austin Street. DDI’s Evan Sheets told CBS 11 last week that DDI backs the project. Read more in this briefing.

• Approved item 53 adding vaping to the City’s existing ban on smoking in public spaces. The ban has been in the works for well over a year. Read more in this memo. 

• Approved item 66, an eight-month use agreement to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup International Broadcast Center (IBC) at our Downtown convention center. The agreement includes up to $15 million in capital improvements. A press conference announcing Dallas as the IBC host that was scheduled for Wednesday was postponed.

• Approved an amended version of item 68 to make it easier for City Council members to use public money to travel to Austin and Washington, D.C. The original proposal was pushed by five City Council members. The compromise means City Council member legislative travel can now be approved by the chair of the legislative committee or any two of the following: The mayor, the mayor pro tem, or the deputy mayor pro tem.

• Reappointed DFW Airport Board members DeMetris Sampson, Mario Quintanilla, and Ben Leal to new two-year terms (Item 73).

• Cut $248,000 in City funding from the Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT) for the upcoming year (Item 76). The decision follows the dance company’s firing earlier this year of its dancers after they formed a union. The funds will be redistributed to other arts groups.

Thanks to DDI's Nikia Summerlin, Urban Planning Manager, for monitoring hours of meetings every week and contributing to these summaries.

Email Nikia

Meetings of Interest:

Dec. 16 - 20

Watch City of Dallas Meetings Live

Monday, December 16

Special Called City Council Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— As detailed above, this is the meeting forced by memo from Council members Blackmon, Schultz, and Willis. The agenda includes closed-door interviews of four candidates, followed by a potential public vote to hire a new city manager. The meeting cannot happen unless at least nine City Council members show up.

City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— This meeting was intended to include deliberations on city manager candidates and a recommendation on a list of finalists. It is unclear if this meeting will happen if the 9 a.m. meeting proceeds as planned.

Wednesday, December 18

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors’ Mini-Workshop, 1 p.m., DART Conference Room C-1st Floor, DART HQ, 1401 Pacific Ave, Dallas; Watch Live Here

— DART leaders will discuss ongoing outreach to service area cities amid calls from some suburbs to reduce their sales tax contributions to the transit system. City of Dallas leaders continue to support full funding for DART.

Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings? Let me know.

Were you forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here.Have a great week.

Best,

Scott Goldstein

Communications & Government Relations Consultant

Downtown Dallas, Inc.