Dallas officials have released no details about how the search for a city manager is progressing more than two months after the recruiting firm Baker Tilly was hired for just over $134,000.
But Joseph Turner, a former municipal executive who follows city manager searches around the country, said residents should probably be worried.
“Baker Tilly has a reputation for failing to communicate with city manager candidates in a timely manner and withholding key information from them about their recruitments,” he told The Dallas Express. “Many potential candidates refuse to participate in their recruitments because of this.”
A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to a request for comment. However, Nicole Berkeland, the firm’s public relations director, said in an email on July 21 that “It is Baker Tilly’s policy not to comment on matters involving our clients.”
Turner is president and founder of the American Association of Municipal Executives, publisher of CityManagerNews.com, and host of the City Manager Unfiltered podcast. He previously served as assistant county administrator for the Walton County Board of County Commissioners in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, city administrator in South Hutchinson, Kansas, city administrator in Sedgwick, Kansas, and director of public works in Goddard, Kansas.
Turner told DX that he has followed its coverage of the Dallas city manager search, what preceded it, and what has followed.
“I believe Baker Tilly, the recruitment firm hired to search for the next Dallas city manager, worked to circumvent Texas open records laws during its recruitment of the Amarillo city manager a couple of months ago,” he said. “This was accomplished by communicating with Amarillo council members using their personal email addresses. In my opinion, there is no legitimate reason for a recruiter to discuss official city business through personal email addresses. It also appears that they may have worked to violate open meeting laws.”
Dallas City Council members did not respond to messages about whether they have communicated or been asked to communicate privately with any Baker Tilly representative regarding the search for a Dallas city manager. The firm has also conducted searches for other city departments.
The Dallas City Council contracted Baker Tilly for $134,374 on May 22 after 15 companies submitted proposals. The contract term is one year, with a one-year renewal option. On Tuesday, DX filed a request with the City of Dallas under the Texas Public Information Act for the contract and job description for the city manager position.
Interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert took office on May 2, about two months following the resignation of T.C. Broadnax, who has since become Austin’s city manager. Tolbert is moving through her “100-Day Transition Playbook” in what is presumably a tryout for the position.
Neither Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson nor a spokesperson for his office responded by deadline to messages seeking comment.