Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, in a CBS 11 interview, talked about City Hall, ongoing discussions to keep the Mavericks and Stars in the city and his trust of the latest cost estimates to repair the nearly 50-year-old seat of Dallas government.

In a 16-minute interview published Friday, Johnson directly responded to criticism about his focus as the city’s top elected official, insisting he is “fully engaged in everything that goes on around here.”

“I just know what I do every day, which is I wake up early in the morning, come to [City Hall] and give this city everything I have,” Johnson said in the interview.

Johnson said he accepted the latest City Hall repair estimates, including a $1 billion price tag over 20 years, calling the current building “not a great place to work” for employees.

He dismissed skepticism about the numbers, arguing the firms providing them are reputable and no better alternative exists.

He noted the City Council recently authorized City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to explore all options — staying, repairing, or relocating — before making a final decision. His priority, he said, is doing “the best thing for the taxpayers.”

Johnson insisted the process has been “the definition of transparent,” citing public meetings and independent studies as proof.

While he respects the opinions of former mayors Mike Rawlings, Ron Kirk, and Tom Leppert, who argue relocating City Hall could revitalize downtown, Johnson said he won’t defer to their views.

He said he won’t commit to a scenario without seeing more data and the city manager’s report on private development interest in the City Hall site in May.

“I want the city manager to go through the exercise of actually exploring what private development options there would be, what interest would there be in this site,” the mayor said. “And if there are really great economic development opportunities for the city that would be unlocked by us leaving this site, I would be very, very compelled by that.”

Johnson confirmed active negotiations are underway to try to keep the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars in the city but declined to share details, citing the need to protect Dallas’ leverage in economic development deals.

He expressed confidence the city will “work this out” to retain both teams. The mayor shrugged off Plano’s reported discussions with the Stars, calling it competition that doesn’t concern him.

“I welcome anybody’s effort to compete with us,” Johnson said. “But I feel good about what we are going to be able to offer and what we’re able to do to keep our teams here.”

Council members respond

Council member Adam Bazaldua, one of six elected officials who have been pushing to revisit repair estimates, responded to clips from Johnson’s interview online.

“We owe it to our taxpayers to get a third party opinion and scrutinize the assessment. Anything less is subpar leadership,” Bazaldua posted it on X.

Bazaldua also highlighted a Mar. 26 post where council member Cara Mendelsohn questioned engineering firm AECOM’s repair cost estimates Wednesday.

In her post, Mendelsohn shared a 2023 Dallas Morning News article about the engineering firm having to pay a $11.8 million settlement for filing false claims to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that increased the price tag of repair and construction of schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“No matter what it is, how old it is, how well it functions, their estimate on city hall includes complete replacement and upgrades of every system, pipe, wire, window, floor, fixture, toilet, sink, because some folks want fancier government offices and want to build it to a Class A brand new standard,” Mendelsohn said in her post.

Council member Paula Blackmon told The News she agreed with Johnson that the city wants to keep the Stars and Mavericks in Dallas, but still wanted to have another review of City Hall’s condition and another set of revised estimates.

“I don’t trust that information and I will continue to ask to validate those numbers,” Blackmon said. “I don’t deny these groups put in the work, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t ask for a deeper understanding of how we got there.”

City Hall emails

In the CBS 11 interview, Johnson said he wouldn’t address a series of articles in The Dallas Morning News reviewing 5,000 pages of City Hall emails, which revealed undisclosed alternative City Hall site tours, AT&T’s criticism of city leadership and instances where business leaders struggled to reach him.

Johnson dismissed the articles, saying he “can’t spend time going back and forth with any media outlet about some emails.”

It’s at least the second time the mayor has refused to publicly discuss what came from the cache of emails. In his weekly newsletter to residents on March 15, he called coverage of news from the emails “tabloid-style articles” that were trying to frame routine city business as “scandalous revelations.”

A News review of 5,000 pages of emails exchanged over the past year among city officials, consultants, and others involved in City Hall’s future uncovered several key findings, including:

• City officials arranged private tours of at least 15 potential City Hall relocation sites — including Founders Square, The Epic and Red Bird Mall — for a select group of council members, without public disclosure.
• Before announcing a move to Plano, AT&T CEO John Stankey questioned Dallas’ “effective governance”, signaling concerns as the company explored suburban options.
• Emails reveal Scotiabank’s CEO couldn’t reach Mayor Johnson to thank him for the company’s Dallas headquarters deal, forcing city staff to intervene before a callback.
• Oak View Group, Fair Park’s former operator, is seeking $5 million from Dallas, alleging the city breached its contract after terminating their agreement.
• City leaders feared WFAA-TV might leave downtown after Dallas moved to seize the station’s parking lot for convention center expansion.
• The Dallas Economic Development Corp.’s CEO clashed with city staff over the group’s role in business recruitment, with emails exposing tensions over strategy and influence.

Staff writer Devyani Chhetri contributed to this report.

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