Dallas: Bazaldua Accuses Tolbert Of Lacking Transparency

Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua criticized City Manager Kimberly Tolbert on Monday for linking City Hall to plans for a new Mavericks arena without first discussing it with council members.

Bazaldua accused Tolbert of lacking transparency. “I feel that we have had an extremely dishonest conversation with the public to this point,” he said, per CBS News Texas.

His remarks followed comments last week by Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts at a Greater Dallas Planning Council event, as reported by The Dallas Express.

Welts said that more than a year ago, Tolbert told the team during arena talks, “Look, I got to move out of City Hall. I can’t afford to operate what we do in that building going forward for the taxpayers.”

Welts responded, “Okay, how is that anything to do with us? But at some point in time, you’ll tell us what’s available. And then we can sit down and have a conversation about it.”

The discussion occurred before Tolbert briefed council members, according to records. Tolbert stated that she informed council members in May and June last year of the urgent need to fund repairs to city facilities, including the nearly 50-year-old City Hall designed by I.M. Pei.

Mayor Eric Johnson sent a memo in August directing a review of City Hall options.

In an interview on Monday, Bazaldua called Tolbert’s actions improper.

“Our city manager took it upon herself to bring the City Hall’s real estate on the market by having that conversation, and that conversation was had prior to any council action,” he said, per CBS.

“I know for a fact that no one on our council took any action that gave the city manager that authority. To insert herself in a process that should have been done with much more transparency is very concerning to me.”

Johnson, in a Thursday interview, defended the review process.

“The process has been the definition of transparent,” Johnson said, per CBS. “It’s just not true that this process hasn’t been transparent. You can go back to what I initially sent out, a memo. I put it in writing. I distribute it publicly, saying to the council, I want a committee to look at options for City Hall.

“So, that was very transparent. The meetings that were called subsequent to my request were all open to the public. Discussions were had at those meetings, and every single thing that has happened has been compelled by council action,” Johnson continued.

Johnson expressed confidence in City Hall’s repair estimates of $329 million or $1 billion to modernize for 20 years.

Bazaldua questioned the costs and called for a third-party review. He said a new arena should not preclude the maintenance of City Hall.

“The fact that we can’t invest in our Downtown Dallas, and keep the Mavericks, and maintain city assets for civic purposes is absurd,” Bazaldua said, CBS reported.

He and other council members are considering next steps.

“We are working towards bringing in more balanced data, more information to consider, and hopefully a more transparent conversation for my colleagues to take up,” Bazaldua added.

The Mavericks want to stay in Dallas and develop 50 continuous acres, Welts said Friday, CBS reported.

“We will build a hotel adjacent to the arena,” he said. “We’ll move our new corporate headquarters downtown. We will move our practice facility downtown. We’re hoping to have a medical partner as part of that, also servicing our team. There will be residential and retail. There will be restaurants.”

On March 4, the council voted 9-6 to direct Tolbert to gather more information on relocating City Hall and on selling the building and land, with the work due by May. The Finance Committee meets on May 26.

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