Dallas, TX
Dallas CIO resigns after 4 years for role in private sector | StateScoop
Bill Zielinski is resigning from his position as Dallas’ chief information officer after nearly four years on the job, the Dallas Morning News reported on Wednesday.
Zielinski joined the city amid the COVID-19 pandemic and led the city’s response to a ransomware attack and navigated the fallout after a city information technology employee deleted millions of electronic police records. His official last day as CIO is April 30.
Though he did not specify his new role, Zielinski told The Dallas Morning News he’s moving to the private sector after more than three decades working government jobs.
“I had this great opportunity that came my way that, at the end of the day, given where I am in my career, where I am in my life, was just a great match. And so I said yes,” Zielinkski told The Dallas Morning News. “And so I’ll take several weeks off and then I will start a new gig in private industry.”
Brian Gardner, the city’s chief information security officer, will serve as the interim CIO.
In 2021, a city IT employee accidentally deleted millions of police files. Two years later, some city computers and services were taken offline after a ransomware attack that breached more than 30,000 Social Security numbers and other personal information.
In response to the deletion of records, Zielinski began offering monthly reports on the IT department to the city council. Additionally, the ransomware attack prompted city officials to work to address its digital vulnerabilities.
“There’s nothing pushing me to leave,” Zielinski told the Dallas Morning News. “The city has been extremely supportive both from city management through to the council. I’m nothing but pleased with the support that the city has provided to me here in this role and to the IT organization, and I expect and I hope to continue to see that kind of support here in the organization.”
Dallas police officers and firefighters are being praised after rescuing a homeless woman who was trapped in a ravine for days. First responders said the rescue pushed them to their limits, but they never gave up.
Paramedics and police officers responded to a call late last month in searing afternoon heat after a man working out near Conrad High School reported hearing faint cries for help.
“When we got the initial call with DPD, we were seeing notes that said that there was someone deep back beside the ravine,” Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedic Robert Kober recalled.
A recent storm had turned the terrain in the area into a thick, sticky mud. “You stepped in it, you sank past your ankles, sometimes halfway or more up to your knees. Nasty, nasty conditions,” Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Mark Gnewuch said.
They hiked nearly a quarter mile through the muck, thick brush and even sewage to find the woman. A one point they even needed to fashion a makeshift bridge, Kober said.
“By the time I got out there, I’d already slipped and fell once and my thought process was ‘wow, she has been out here for a while,’” Gnewuch said.
“I was expecting to see someone who was barely coherent, possibly deceased, but when we arrived on location and I saw her, she was actually carrying on a conversation,” Kober said.
The woman was taken to a hospital suffering from severe dehydration, prolonged sun exposure and other injuries, but was in stable condition.
“I have been on similar situations where individuals who are in that type of environment for that long, they don’t survive, so it was definitely a miracle to make it through,” Kober said.
The rescue was proof of what can be accomplished when first responders work together.
FC Dallas announced today that forward Logan Farrington signed a contract extension through the 2027-28 season, with club options for the 2028-29 and 2029-30 seasons.
Farrington was previously under contract through the 2027 season. This new deal updates his contract options through the 2029-30 season.
Farrington has appeared in 14 matches this season, scoring a career-high six goals and recording a team-leading four assists. He was named to the MLS Team of the Matchweek Starting XI for Week 5 after scoring a brace and one assist in the Texas Derby against Houston on March 21.
For the first time in his professional career, Farrington scored in back-to-back matches from March 21 to April 4, finding the net in the Texas Derby victory and the road win at D.C. United.
The Racine, Wisconsin, native was drafted No. 3 overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft and signed a new contract on Jan. 22, 2025. Farrington has recorded 15 goals and 16 assists in 75 appearances since joining Dallas, the most by any 2024 MLS SuperDraftee across the league. He won the MLS NEXT Pro Cup with North Texas SC on Nov. 9, 2024, scoring a goal in the final. He also became one of six players in MLS history to record multiple games with both a goal and an assist off the bench in a single season in 2024.
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Quick BDS Take
There is no doubt in my mind that we’re going to see more of these types of announcements over the next few weeks as the club begins to reposition itself for the upcoming calendar change in MLS. There are still a lot of players on deals that run through 2027, so addressing what part of 2027 has to be done here.
Either way, I am all for adding more years to Farrington’s contract. He’s been one of the more underrated strikers in MLS and his partnership with Petar Musa has really been fun to watch over the last three seasons.
His numbers alone this year show that he’s been improving year over year with the club, too.
The Stewpot, a Dallas-based homeless services organization, is helping people who have experienced homelessness be seen in a new light.
During a special art exhibit Thursday night, paintings filled the walls, but it was artists like Darrell Plunkett who were the real focus.
When Plunkett first discovered The Stewpot’s art program more than a decade ago, he was at one of the lowest points in his life. He was struggling with alcoholism.
“I was staying in a shelter and I was waiting for them to take us back downtown, and I saw a gentleman with sketches and a bag full of art supplies,” he said.
Immediately, he wanted to learn more.
“He told me about the program, and back then, there was an interview process to get in, and so I went through that,” he said.
Plunkett was accepted and quickly discovered a love for painting, especially sunflowers and roosters. More importantly, he found an escape from the struggles he was facing.
“It kept me out of trouble and give me a safe place to come and create instead of running the streets,” he said.
He said many artists in the program have found that same sense of purpose.
“It gives me peace and quiet and comfort,” Luis Arispe said. “People who buy my work love the way I talk to them and speak to them.”
Every painting sold directly benefits the artists. They receive 90% of each sale, while the remaining 10% goes back into the program to help pay for art supplies.”
“It’s a nice little boost if you get a little more pocket change.. to get paid for your work and to be acknowledged as an artist,” The Stewpot Director of Enrichment Programs, Betty Heckman, said.
“The recognition that someone actually likes what I created it just gives me joy,” Plunkett said.
Since joining the program, Plunkett has remained sober. He now has his own apartment and works at the Dallas Arboretum, where he finds constant inspiration.
“I’ll just stop and take a quick snapshot and go home and create,” he said.
He estimates he’s created hundreds of paintings over the years, and some of his work has even been featured in murals across Dallas.
Looking back, he says he’s forever grateful for this program that changed the course of his life.
“I don’t know what I would do without it,” he said. “It’s been a blessing.”
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