Members of the Dallas City Council are considering firing or disciplining City Manager T.C. Broadnax, according to a memo from the mayor. The document called for a special council meeting over Broadnax’s alleged role in the City’s troubled construction permitting operations.
Mayor Eric Johnson and three council members have requested separately to hold a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, June 15.
The mayor’s memo requested the special meeting to “discuss and evaluate the performance and employment of City Manager.”
In a statement released Friday, the mayor added that he believes Broadnax should be terminated.
“Several of my duly elected colleagues on the Dallas City Council have made it clear in recent days that they also believe it is time for a change,” the mayor said. “We are ready to move forward and discuss how best to build for the future of our great city and its amazing people, and that is why I have placed the item on the City Council’s agenda for next week.”
Councilmembers Paula Blackmon, Cara Mendelsohn, and Gay Donnell Willis are also calling for Broadnax’s review.
Blackmon confirmed the possibility of removing Broadnax.
“Systems issues are not being addressed,” Blackmon said. “From the data breach to 911 to homelessness to permitting, we are not showing improvement.”
“It’s time to hold people accountable,” said Blackmon of Broadnax, whose salary as Dallas city manager was $436,000 last year. For comparison, Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s annual salary is $153,750, and the President of the United States makes $400,000 annually.
Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas and former Texas state representative, is taking a more cautious approach.
“Whether it be his plan to ‘reimagine’ public safety that increased crime under his watch or his building permit delays that have made Dallas a less affordable city to live in, T.C. Broadnax has not been up to the job. I am cautiously optimistic about his potential removal but will reserve judgment until we know his replacement,” he told The Dallas Express.
Meanwhile, Dallas City Council members Carolyn King Arnold, Jaime Resendez, Omar Narvaez, and Paul Ridley said they think Broadnax should keep his job because he is “making progress” in addressing City problems.
Arnold said firing Broadnax “is not in the best interest of this city,” as she feels Dallas needs consistency if it is going to fix the issues in its systems.
The 15-member council has three options after coming out of the executive session: it could choose to reconvene to open session, adjourn, or outright fire Broadnax.
Broadnax, 53, came to Dallas from Washington State in 2017. He has faced declining support from the council in the last month due to his response regarding issues in the City’s commercial and residential building permit process.
After a meeting discussing these problems, the city manager defended his attempts to fix them, citing the overwhelming volume of incoming permits and claiming he has pushed for changes to the permitting system since he accepted the position.
“We outstrip every city in this metroplex with the number of permits that come into our system,” Broadnax told the council, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Broadnax was in Austin attending the Texas City Management Association conference when the request for the special meeting regarding the future of his employment was submitted. However, he released the following statement:
“Periodic performance review is critical to me and all City employees to demonstrate progress and ensure transparency for our residents, taxpayers, and stakeholders. I am proud of the hard work which has led to accomplishment of many goals related to the City Council’s eight strategic priorities and look forward to sharing the R.E.A.L. impact we continue to make to improve the lives of Dallas residents in ways that are responsible, equitable, accountable, and legitimate, together as One Dallas.”