The search for a new Dallas City Manager will continue over the next few weeks as candidates prepare for interviews and “meet and greet” opportunities to determine the person best suited for the role.
A statement sent to The Dallas Express confirmed that the three candidates will participate in a “meet and greet” outside of Dallas City Hall on the weekend of January 11-12, followed by interviews with the City Council on Monday, January 13.
The process will also include the candidates participating in at least three community meetings during the second week of January.
A decision is expected to be finalized shortly after the January 13 interviews.
Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs, said following virtual interviews with the candidates, the City Council members plan to “go out to the residents of Dallas to make them part of this selection.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Dallas City Council finalized the list of three candidates for the role of City Manager, including current interim City Manager Kim Tolbert, Fort Worth Assistant City Manager William Johnson, and Sacramento Assistant City Manager Mario Lara.
These interviews follow months of debate on the new city manager due to the departure of former City Manager TC Broadnax, who resigned in February to accept the same role in Austin, as previously highlighted by DX.
Dallas then began its search for a new city manager, though a report from the Baker Tilly search firm detailed only four candidates who fit the minimum requirements for the role.
Frustrations with the report prompted Dallas City Council Members Paula Blackmon, Jaynie Schultz, and Gay Donnell Willis to call for a Special Called Meeting to discuss the search. However, only City Council Member Omar Narvaez and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua joined alongside the three council members, resulting in a cancellation of the meeting, as reported by DX.
Despite the hectic process of finding a new city manager, Atkins said in early December that the City Council plans to keep the “same timeline” for filling the role.
“We don’t want to go out there and get ahead of ourselves and everybody say, ‘well, you didn’t do this, you didn’t do that’,” he said, as reported by NBC 5 DFW. “We don’t want to do that. We don’t want to be knee-jerk reaction. Let’s be professional.”