AT&T’s chief executive privately warned Dallas leaders about crime and governance months before the company announced plans to leave downtown, according to emails obtained through a public records request.
Emails released by the City of Dallas show that John Stankey raised concerns about persistent public safety and governance challenges in downtown Dallas during exchanges with City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert in 2025.
The correspondence, obtained by The Dallas Express through an open records request filed in September 2025 and fulfilled on March 10, 2026, offers insight into discussions between the telecom giant and city leaders months before AT&T ultimately announced plans to move its headquarters to Plano.
The city did not release the roughly ten pages of documents to The Dallas Express until after the records had already been provided to another outlet and a story had been published. It remains unclear when that outlet filed its request.
The emails show Tolbert reached out to Stankey on May 7, 2025, after the two met to discuss issues affecting downtown Dallas.
“Thank you for connecting with me yesterday,” Tolbert wrote. “I have written you a follow-up letter in response to our meeting, which was mailed to your office today.”
In response, several days later, Stankey acknowledged the meeting but indicated his concerns extended beyond immediate problems.
“I appreciate the visit last week, and as I shared in the meeting, I appreciate all you are personally doing to address the issues we discussed,” Stankey wrote on May 11, 2025.
“I don’t really have anything to say that would be additive to our substantive discussion, but I know you receipted for the message that my concerns transcend the immediate issues and moment and extend to the ongoing and cyclical nature of our challenges with effective/sustained governance of the City [bolding added] and the inter-relationship of other issues and components to deliver a healthy business environment and neighborhood,” he continued. “These are the foundational issues I have to consider when I put the long-term lens on the best decisions for AT&T.”
Months later, Tolbert again contacted Stankey on August 6, 2025, outlining what city officials described as progress through a “Safe In the City” campaign aimed at improving public safety downtown. In the email, she claimed policing levels had increased since late 2024 and that the effort had resulted in a more than 25% reduction in crime.
Stankey replied on August 12, acknowledging some improvements while suggesting underlying problems remained. “Achieving and sustaining a safe and functional environment that is welcoming to commerce, investment and individuals has been a challenge. Nobody has been more interested in removing this distraction from their primary charter than me.”
The emails are among thousands of pages of communications reportedly given to other outlets involving city officials and corporate leaders tied to economic development discussions in Dallas during 2025.
Similar exchanges previously reviewed by reporters show city leaders were aware the telecommunications company was considering relocation options months before the move was announced, according to reporting by another outlet.
AT&T confirmed in January that it plans to relocate its global headquarters from downtown Dallas to a new campus at 5400 Legacy Drive in Plano, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
A spokesman for AT&T had previously told the outlet that the company would not comment on “rumors and speculation” about a potential move.
The company said the campus will consolidate operations currently spread across multiple North Texas locations and is expected to eventually employ several thousand workers. City officials in Plano later approved incentives for the project, which requires at least $1.35 billion in construction spending and a minimum of 2 million square feet of development, according to previous reporting.
AT&T’s current headquarters is located in the 37-story Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, part of a broader corporate footprint that includes the company’s Discovery District development.
The correspondence obtained through the records request illustrates that Stankey had raised concerns about crime, safety, and governance months before the company finalized its decision to move operations out of the city’s central business district.
