It has been two months since the Dallas City Council contracted executive recruitment firm Baker Tilly to search for a new city manager, and the Chicago-based company has said nothing about its work to date.
In fact, of the 22 active executive searches listed on the firm’s website, Dallas is not among them. Baker Tilly is also conducting executive searches for other cities in Texas, including Midland, El Paso, Irving, Fulshear, and Brownsville.
Council members hired 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.
“I just want to emphasize the priority I think that this body has taken [sic] on this process and what this is going to be for the future of our city,” Council Member Adam Bazaldua (District 7) said during the meeting. “It’s a very important process [that should not be rushed more] than it needs to. I want to make sure that’s real clear. I look forward to participating in the discussions as we move forward through the process.”
Nina Arias, Dallas’ director of human resources, said that although the contract term is one year, a typical search lasts six months. A city spokesperson did not respond to a message asking for an update on the search as well as a job description and salary range for the position. Neither is listed on the City’s website.
“We have a number of medium-to-larger-size chief executive officer recruitments in local government public sector,” Baker Tilly director Art Davis said at a May 22 meeting. “We’re currently working on Amarillo. We’ve worked in the City of El Paso … [and] a number of cities all around the country. We’ve worked on city manager and larger executive recruitments for communities all over the country,” including Kansas City; Beaumont, Texas; Midland, Texas; Fulton County, Georgia; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Baker Tilly has not responded to multiple requests for comment about the Dallas search.
The previous city manager, T.C. Broadnax, left on May 2 after seven years in Dallas to become Austin’s city manager. Former Deputy City Manager Kimberly Tolbert was named interim city manager on February 27 — six days after Broadnax resigned. She is currently moving through her “100-Day Transition Playbook,” presumably a tryout for the position.
Tolbert has repeatedly ignored The Dallas Express’ requests for comment on a number of issues facing Dallas. It is unclear whether she still receives them after blocking the news outlet on X — possibly an unconstitutional action — following an expose by DX that revealed Tolbert’s history of engaging with anti-police and militant racial content on the social media platform.
Council members and City Attorney Tammy Palomino’s office have also remained silent on that issue.
In March, Reuters reported that the U.S. Supreme Court has set a new standard to determine whether public officials who act in a governmental capacity when blocking critics on social media have violated the First Amendment — a constitutional right that prevents government actors from limiting individuals’ rights to free speech.
Justices opined in Lindke v. Freed that when a government official blocks citizens from their social media accounts in an attempt to censor comments critical of their positions on issues or job performance, it constitutes government retaliation. Therefore, it is a violation of the First Amendment. It should be noted, though, that the First Amendment applies only to government action — not private enterprise.
Tolbert appears to be using her X account in her official capacity as interim city manager. DX‘s X account did not comment on her posts but merely followed her account.