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Dallas, TX
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says he trusts latest City Hall repair estimates
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.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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