Three semifinalists for Dallas city manager announced as support for Kim Tolbert grows

By Devyani Chhetri
City Reporter

The ad hoc committee leading the search for Dallas’ permanent city manager announced Monday the three semi-finalists it is considering: interim city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Fort Worth assistant city manager William Johnson, and Sacramento assistant city manager Mario Lara.

According to a draft timeline, council members intend to host community meetings on Jan. 11-12. They will interview the candidates on-site on Jan. 13.

Monday’s meeting comes days after a slew of organizations around Dallas threw their weight behind Tolbert. The Dallas NAACP, which also supported Tolbert for the interim role, is the latest to join the effort.

“Why would we bring someone in new when we already have a person on the job that is trained?” NAACP-Dallas President Sharon Middlebrooks said in a news conference Friday.

She said the city’s voters recently passed a $1.25 billion bond program and Dallas Hero amendments that waive government immunity and direct 50% of any new revenue year over year into the police and fire pension system.

“Though we do understand and respect the fact that the city of Dallas does have a process in which they choose their city managers, but we wanted to be very clear that we have a city manager, an interim city manager that has been performing the duties of a city manager in excess of seven months,” Middlebrooks said.

Tolbert took on the interim role after former City Manager T.C. Broadnax announced he was leaving to become Austin’s city manager. He started his new job in May.

The process has been muddled with council infighting over concerns of transparency and how long it is taking. Few council members have publicly endorsed their favorite. Council member Carolyn King Arnold endorsed Tolbert months ago. Meanwhile, some have said they want to see if Tolbert comes out on top after the search.

“I do think that we owe it to ourselves and to the residents to go through the interview process,” council member Jaynie Schultz told The Dallas Morning News in August. “We’ve engaged a company. We ought to let them do their job, and we need to do our due diligence.”

Middlebrooks, in the news conference, was quick to distinguish that Tolbert had not approached the NAACP to endorse her. In the past, assistant city managers have stepped into interim positions and then taken on the permanent role. Middlebrooks named predecessors like Mary Suhm and A.C. Gonzalez to that effect.

“We believe that Kim Tolbert deserves the same treatment,” Middlebrooks said.

Before Friday’s endorsement, Tolbert, who made dramatic changes in City Hall, from hiring a new leadership team to reorganizing departments, racked up endorsements from the Dallas Fire Fighters Association and the Dallas Hispanic Firefighters Association.

“Kim has proven her leadership through action,” DFFA President Jeff Patterson said in a letter of endorsement.

Tolbert, he said, built “collaborative relationships with Dallas Fire Rescue” and promoted former fire rescue chief Dominique Artis to an assistant city manager role and assistant fire chief Justin Ball to the interim chief role, demonstrating an “ability to put the right people in the right positions to lead us forward.”