A recent poll found that a large share of Dallas residents are unhappy with the job performance of City Manager T.C. Broadnax.
The Dallas Express asked citizens: “Based upon a city government’s fundamental responsibility to keep crime low; address homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling; keep public spaces clean; facilitate construction and expansion through its building permitting process; and provide a favorable environment to conduct business, do you approve of T.C. Broadnax’s job performance as Dallas City Manager?”
Only 6.37% answered in the affirmative, while 72.55% registered their disapproval of Dallas’ top bureaucrat. Some 21.08% of respondents said they were unsure or had no opinion either way.
Broadnax, who has been Dallas’ city manager since 2017, claims his “approach to public sector management and community engagement has been instrumental in enhancing [the] quality of life for the residents of the cities he has served.”
However, most Dallas residents seem to disagree, with several of Broadnax’s recent decisions possibly contributing to his flagging support among Dallasites.
Significantly, Broadnax put forward and advocated for a budget that increased the tax burden on Dallas residents, as reported by The Dallas Express. Mayor Eric Johnson and Council Member Cara Mendelsohn (District 12) opposed the tax increase, arguing that the City should cut spending and focus on reducing taxes.
Most of the City Council sided with Broadnax, choosing to raise taxes on Dallas residents by $120 million. Mayor Johnson voted against the increase.
Shortly after the vote, Johnson announced he was joining the Republican Party after previously serving in the Texas House as a Democrat, as reported by The Dallas Express. Since being elected mayor in 2019, he identified as nonpartisan, as is legally required in municipal races. He was reelected in 2023 with overwhelming support.
In an opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal, Johnson slammed the spending habits of “proud Democrats” who “view cities as laboratories for liberalism rather than as havens for opportunity and free enterprise.”
“Too often, local tax dollars are spent on policies that exacerbate homelessness, coddle criminals, and make it harder for ordinary people to make a living,” he claimed, noting that he wants Dallas to have “the lowest taxes in our fast-growing North Texas region.”
Broadnax has also been criticized over the City’s slow permitting process and for his response to a purported data breach that allegedly exposed the personal data of more than 26,000 residents and City employees and disrupted vital City computer systems.
“I think we’ve done a great job,” Broadnax said about the data breach and its fallout, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Broadnax receives a higher salary than the president, bringing in at least $423,000 annually.
