Only weeks after being asked to resign and almost getting fired by the Dallas City Council, City Manager T. C. Broadnax is receiving a 3% raise.
Following the 10-5 vote by the mayor and city council, Broadnax is set to make at least $423,000 — more than the president of the United States and more than double what Gov. Greg Abbott makes.
As city manager, Broadnax is responsible for managing the city’s budget and the roughly 13,000 employees whose salaries are paid for by city taxpayers.
His official profile claims that Broadnax “is recognized throughout the country for his significant contributions working in the public sector tackling issues relating to community and economic development, neighborhood revitalization, code enforcement, financial management and organizational leadership.”
The pay raise comes only weeks after a public spat between Broadnax and the city council, which nearly led to his termination, as reported by The Dallas Express.
A series of issues significantly contributed to the confrontation, including a shortage of 9-1-1 operators, the deletion of over 8 million city records, and a massive backlog in building permits.
Despite previously deciding to “agree on a path forward” with Broadnax in July, Mayor Eric Johnson voted against increasing his salary. Alongside the mayor, Councilmembers Paula Blackmon, Adam McGough, Cara Mendelsohn, and Gay Donnell Willis also voted against the raise.
Johnson noted that despite seeing improvements in Broadnax’s performance, “I do not believe it is appropriate to award a raise until the job is done.”
Willis of District 13 noted that she “Could not support a 3% raise for the City Manager when a key issue like permitting went unresolved for so long. I still hear about permitting issues EVERY DAY.”
Similarly, Mendelsohn of District 12 tweeted that she “could not support a 3% raise for the City Manager because the city is not operating at the level I or #D12 residents expect.”
Could not support a 3% raise for the City Manager because the city is not operating at the level I or #D12 residents expect. (That doesn't mean staff isn't working very hard…) https://t.co/JKdEMPxDA0
— Cara Mendelsohn ? (@caraathome) August 24, 2022
The council members who voted for the raise included Adam Bazaldua, Carolyn King Arnold, Casey Thomas II, Jaime Resendez, Jaynie Schultz, Jesse Moreno, Omar Narvaez, Paul Ridley, and Tennell Atkins, and The Dallas Express August Crime Boss Chad West.
The city council members in favor of the raise provided no public explanation for their reasoning, and no recording of the vote is publicly available as the meeting was a closed executive session.