A panel on Thursday questioned the length of the search for Dallas’ next city manager, an uncertain timeline for a hire, along with the number of applicants.

Dallas started its search for a new city manager in August, four months after T.C. Broadnax left the job for the same position in Austin.

The five-member Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs has been tasked with handling the hiring of a consultant to conduct a national search and help the 15-member Dallas City Council narrow the field of qualified candidates.

Councilmember Tennell Atkins, chairman of the committee, told colleagues the process of reviewing four semifinalists presented by consultant Baker Tilly started in earnest on Thursday.

“The committee has not said what we thought because we have not reviewed it,” Atkins said.

The committee met for the first time since the names of the semifinalists were made public in mid-November.

The semifinalists include William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth, Dallas interim city manager Kim Tolbert, Grand Rapids, Michigan city manager Mark Washington and Zach Williams, a chief operating officer in DeKalb County, Georgia.

While the committee didn’t question the qualifications of the four semifinalists Thursday, it did criticize its consultant for what councilmember Jesse Moreno characterized as a required missed step of allowing the committee to narrow the field.  

“Where did we miss that 10 to 15 semifinalists for council committee review,” Moreno asked.

Art Davis, a director with Baker Tilly, told the committee that 50 candidates applied for the job.

“We sent you what we thought were the best candidates because we were working to meet a deadline, initially, of having a decision made by January.”

Davis added that was a draft timeline that would have to be extended.

Councilmember Cara Mendelsohn said her quick review of the 50 applicants led her to want to learn about more than a dozen of the names listed, which she planned to review over the weekend.

“I think getting us from fifty to four was too far of a leap,” Mendelsohn said. “Jumping ahead to four (semifinalists) is a shortcut. I’m not willing to take the shortcut.”

Atkins said the ad hoc committee would meet again on December 16 but did not provide an updated timeline for when an offer would be extended to a city manager finalist.

Some Dallas council members want to know if the four candidates on the shortlist for the city manager job are the best and only options.

A group of council members overseeing the search for the city’s top administrator met Thursday to discuss the next step in the hiring process. The meeting revealed frustrations with the pace and conduct of the search.

Council members laid into representatives from search firm Baker Tilly, asking why they were learning about 50 other candidates on the day of the Thursday meeting after a shortlist was released in November.

Art Davis, with Baker Tilly, told council members the firm identified four candidates as the best of the pool after several top contenders backed out due to issues surrounding the city’s finances and results of the Nov. 5 elections. They looked at education levels, professional experience and demographics.

Council member Paula Blackmon asked why the documents weren’t released immediately and got into a heated exchange with Mayor pro tem Tennell Atkins, chair of the ad hoc committee on administrative affairs.

Atkins said he, too, had only seen the list of 50 candidates as of Thursday morning. He said there is a process in place where not everyone on the council can see the information immediately.

“Once I get (the documents), everything becomes public information,” Atkins said, seemingly hinting at a behind-the-scenes fight over his leadership.

The four candidates on the shortlist for the city’s top job are Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, the city’s interim city manager; William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth; Mark Washington, city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Zach Williams, executive assistant and chief operating officer for DeKalb County in Georgia.

Baker Tilly, which received a $134,000 contract from the city in May to lead the vetting process, said that as of last month, 50 of 616 possible applicants had sent in their resumes.

The city manager, appointed by the City Council, is the municipal government’s top administrative official. Some of the key responsibilities of the official include keeping the lights on across the city, managing more than 13,000 employees and managing a $5 billion budget.

There is a laundry list of issues at the moment. The city still needs to close a $4 billion gap in its uniformed and civilian pension funds, and officials are juggling the pressure to hire more than 900 cops after the passage of Propositions S and U in the Nov. 5 election. The two propositions waive the city’s municipal immunity and mandate that the city allocate 50% of any new revenue growth year-over-year to the police and fire pension system and other public safety initiatives.

The permanent office has been empty since former city manager T.C. Broadnax left for Austin in May to be the city manager. He wasn’t alone. Some of the city’s top brass, including Police Chief Eddie García, have also found jobs in Austin.

A final plan is set to be revealed next week on Monday.

Grigsby set the standard

Re: “Writer is leaving The News — Pulitzer Prize winner will start new chapter after decades covering the community,” Tuesday Metro & Business story.

Newspapers have a long history of colorful columnists who often became the story. Mike Royko, a brilliant writer, was also known for his frequent visits to the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago. Jimmy Breslin from New York published a letter from the “Son of Sam” and ran for City Council president. Both made up characters to illustrate the ills of the cities where they lived and worked.

Sharon Grigsby chose a different path. Her goal was always to make Dallas a better place to live without making herself the center of the story. Her columns were based on in-depth research without the entertaining theatrics that made many columnists famous.

Her columns weren’t about her. They were about us. I did not always agree with her take on some issues, but I always knew reading her columns was well worth my time.

Sharon and her colleague Cheryl Hall set a standard for journalism that is not often duplicated today. Their work should be required reading for young journalists.

David Margulies, Lewisville

Grave disservice to women

Re: “‘Deaths will be in vain’ — Texas committee’s plan to skip 2 years of data raises concerns,” Saturday news story.

I am beyond appalled and incredulous at the decision to not investigate pregnancy-related deaths in 2022 and 2023. While you, Patrick Ramsey, may not want to “live in the past,” I’m sure the families of those women who died, some as a result of the Texas abortion ban, will be living in the past for the rest of their lives.

What other types of death did you decide to exclude from your investigations for 2022 and 2023?

Your failure to perform your job is a grave disservice to the women who have died and their families. It also denies all the people of Texas critical information on which to make political decisions and therefore is an obstruction of our civil rights.

Donnia Harrington, Rockwall

Politics intrudes on health

In this story, Patrick Ramsey is quoted as saying, “We cannot live in the past looking at maternal deaths.” What? Have I suddenly awoken to find myself in a different universe? One where we do not use past knowledge to guide us to better solutions regarding our laws?

The more I look at that quote, the angrier I become, because it appears to represent the intrusion — one more time — of politics into what should be impartial research into improving the lives of Texas residents. Please, for the love of God, let’s get these political sycophants out our health affairs.

Dan Siculan, Royse City

No Labels was on right track

Re: “More Than the Usual Dirty Politics — Democrats’ aggressive undermining of No Labels movement was voter suppression, pure and simple,” Dec. 5 editorial.

This piece answered a lot of questions about what happened to this quickly disappearing movement. I was intrigued by the concept and looking at the last several election cycles, I believed the timing was perfect for such an undertaking.

The Democrats lost in 2024 for the same reason they lost in 2016. A huge majority of the voters couldn’t picture its candidate in the driver’s seat.

So why was the election so close? An equally large number of voters couldn’t hold their nose long enough to pull the lever to allow a dishonest egocentric to represent us to the rest of the world.

In a nation of more than 334 million people, we all know there are many patriotic citizens with the intellect and heart to lead us forward as the beacon of freedom the rest of the world wants to see.

We have four years to find a few. Maybe a No Labels-type organization can start early and help the cause for the rest of us.

Ken Kelley, Pottsboro

Ignorance is expensive

Re: “District votes to close 5 schools — Lewisville elementary campuses will shutter as enrollment falls,” Wednesday news story.

As retired Texas teachers, it is disappointing to see the continued lack of funding and support for public schools in Texas. The recent school closing announcements in district after district is confirming the lack of commitment to quality education in our state.

According to raiseyourhandtexas.org, Texas ranks 42nd in the nation per student spending. It is shortsighted not to prepare future generations in Texas and have competitive education attainment. If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Alan and Karen Beck, Plano

Hold DSO applause

I’d like to ask your music critic Scott Cantrell to keep pounding on the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to put into practice his easy suggestion for stopping the inappropriate clapping.

I tell myself to be patient with those who are uneducated about protocol and at least coming to the concert, but why doesn’t it dawn on them after the first faux pas that two-thirds of the audience is not clapping?

Why do they not realize that the conductor is not turning to the audience? Since they don’t, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra needs to try to educate them.

Dolores R. Rogers, Dallas

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