Dallas remains committed to hiring its next city manager by year-end, but the path to getting there remains uncertain.
Deputy Mayor Tennell Atkins said The Dallas Morning News On Monday, he expressed hope that recruiting candidates for the city’s top government post will begin in the fall, but he added that the City Council is still in the process of determining the timeline for finding a successor to former City Manager TC Broadnax, who retired in May and is now Austin’s city manager.
“By the end of December – that was our goal from the beginning,” said Atkins. “That is still our goal now.”
Candidates could also include interim city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, a former deputy city manager and former chief of staff to Broadnax. The city council appointed Tolbert as interim manager in February after Broadnax announced his resignation.
Tolbert has not yet announced whether she plans to seek the permanent position, but several moves she has made since taking office in the spring — including plans to merge several city departments and committing Police Chief Eddie García to staying with the city through at least 2027 — seem to indicate she does not view the interim position as a passive replacement.
The council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs received drafts of a recruitment brochure on Monday that will be used by executive search firm Baker Tilly to solicit candidates. Atkins is chair of the group, and Mayor Eric Johnson named the committee the lead committee for selecting the next city manager.
In May, the City Council approved a one-year, more than $134,000 contract with Baker Tilly to lead the search.
The committee also received a summary of survey results on what 450 employees and 2,100 residents want from their next city manager.
Employees were asked to rate the top five qualities they would like to see in the next city manager.
The three characteristics most frequently cited by employees were a leader who values employee well-being and development, a person with strong communication skills, and a manager with a strong ethical compass and sense of integrity.
Residents, meanwhile, rated the three most important qualifications they believed the new city manager should bring: experience in financial management, city leadership and working with elected officials, community members and other private and public groups.
Several council members said they believe changes should be made to the brochure to include additional skills a new city manager should have and to add additional details about the position, such as that Dallas city limits span five counties and that there are at least four independent school districts.
“And the reason that’s important is because it reflects the scope of the role,” said Councilman Gay Donnell Willis.
A draft schedule provided by Baker Tilly lists Oct. 31 as the date the city plans to make a final offer to the person recommended for the city manager position, but the timing of when the search will begin and the final report on background checks on the finalists is listed in the schedule as “to be determined.”
Art Davis, a director at Baker Tilly, told council members Monday that the firm will need five to six weeks to contact potential candidates for the position. From the pool of applicants, the firm hopes to narrow the group to at least eight semifinalists and then at least four for the final round.
He said the company also plans to conduct background, credit and social media checks on the finalists.
“Once the brochure and the final form are ready, I think we can start scheduling appointments because we are just starting the process,” Davis said.
Atkins said the committee plans to meet on Aug. 26 to finalize the text of the brochure.
