Documents obtained by The Dallas Express reveal that then-Deputy Dallas City Manager Kim Tolbert spent $3,000 of taxpayer money on a four-day trip to the National Forum of Black Public Administrators in April of this year.

The travel costs borne by taxpayers for Tolbert to attend the NFBPA event amount to nearly $1,500 for four nights of accommodation at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, $800 for registration, $350 for airfare, and $250 total per diem. This brings the total cost of Tolbert’s travels, as reported by DX, to $13,000 since October 2023.

NFBPA is a conference of black left-wing public employees. Although the group’s page on LinkedIn states it is an “independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization,” NFBPA highlights its own left-wing political tilt.

“The National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA) is the principal and most progressive organization dedicated to the advancement of black public leadership in local and state governments,” the page also reads.

Although Tolbert’s travel documents only show her trip to NFBPA in 2024, her social media history indicates she has been a frequent attendee at the yearly conference. She has posted selfies and other pictures from the event since as early as 2017.

At times, Tolbert has seen prominent left-wing figures speak at NFBPA. However, these speakers are only sometimes black and/or public administrators. This has included former President Bill Clinton and left-wing MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid.

This revelation comes as DX investigations have repeatedly raised questions about the relevance of Tolbert’s travel to the several positions she has held in the City of Dallas throughout the years, including her recent promotion to interim city manager. It also raises questions about what the City has gained from her travel.

Prior DX reporting has revealed Tolbert’s first-class trips to feminist conferences, as well as “equity” luncheons.

According to the 2023 Dallas Community Survey, the five greatest issues facing citizens are homelessness (75%), crime (61%), drugs (60%), infrastructure/streets (55%), and aggressive solicitation and panhandling (45%). Yet, DX previously showed that Tolbert’s travel can rarely be strictly construed as beneficial to addressing these issues.

Among the most relevant documented travel were two trips she took as deputy city manager to Los Angeles and Atlanta in early 2024 to inspect the cities’ homeless housing projects. While the City was reportedly considering a tiny home homeless housing project in 2023, the outcome of Tolbert’s trip is not known. Likewise, she did not respond to a request for comment to find out what the City gained from this excursion.

While Tolbert did join a delegation to Congress in Washington, D.C., to discuss regulations concerning the contamination of the carcinogenic chemical PFAS in municipal utility districts, an issue which her talking points called the “most important in terms of impact on the City’s budget,” the interim city manager recently appointed a new head of the City water department who presided over numerous environmental and infrastructure disasters in prior roles.

Tolbert was contacted for comment during the production of this story. The interim city manager was asked what benefit the City received from her travel to NFBPA. She did not respond by the time of publication.

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