MEDIA PARTNER WFAA NEWS 8: The current interim city manager is set to take on the permanent role – one that, in Dallas’ form of government, has more responsibility and power than the mayor.
Photo courtesy of WFAA.
DALLAS — A former Dallas City Hall intern is set to become the city’s most powerful public official.
Dallas City Council members named Kimberly Bizor Tolbert as the next city manager Wednesday, voting 13-2 to officially give her the job she’s been working in an interim capacity since February 2024.
Tolbert will be the first Black woman to hold the role and the first woman in more than a decade.
The city’s top job became vacant after former City Manager T.C. Broadnax resigned to become Austin’s city manager last year.
Tolbert was widely considered the frontrunner for the job but remained publicly coy through the summer on whether she would apply for the permanent position — even as she implemented a major reorganization of city departments and oversaw the departures and subsequent replacement of top city leaders.
It was no surprise when she was named as one of the semi-finalists for the job in November. The city council gave Tolbert the job over the other two finalists — Fort Worth Assistant City Manager William Johnson and Sacramento Assistant City Manager Mario Lara.
The city manager search was contentious, though, with infighting between city council members throughout the process. Some city council members criticized the extended length of the search.
It was Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins who made the motion to appoint Tolbert to the city’s top job permanently with a salary of $450,000. As WFAA previously reported, Broadnax earned an annual salary of $423,247 at the time of his resignation.
“This has not been the easiest journey,” Atkins said ahead of the vote. “I know there’s been a whole lot of confusion around this horseshoe, but I believe we’re going to be unified today.”
Added Atkins: “Dallas is the greatest city in America, and we should show that we have the greatest city manager in America.”
During council comment ahead of the vote, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua praised improved City Hall morale under Tolbert in her interim role.
“We already have the best in the city of Dallas,” Bazaldua said. “I know that the future of the city of Dallas is bright in the hands of Ms. Kimberly Bizor Tolbert.”
Prior to casting her any vote, City Council member Cara Mendelsohn said she wanted to see a city manager who would represent more change and reform, including hiring more officers and speeding up of the process for getting permits.
“My vote will be grounded in the hope that I have for Dallas’ future,” Mendelsohn said. “A future that demands a new direction and a fresh perspective in our leadership.”
Council member Paul Ridley, the other member of the horseshoe to vote against Tolbet’s hire, said he was concerned with a provision in the contract that had been negotiated with Tolbert. He said that the verbiage allowed for a “golden parachute” of up to two years’ pay — or $900,000 — in the event of her termination.
Bazaldua said that allegations that those concerns hadn’t been addressed were “disingenuous at best.”
Mayor Eric Johnson, meanwhile, stressed that the hiring of a city manager is “the single most important hire” that the city council makes.
“What we needed to do — and I believe we did it — was find the right person for the right job at the right time,” Johnson said.
Tolbert’s family, including her mom, sisters, and son, were in attendance for the vote, and Tolbert addressed the city council, staff, and others after the vote.
“I want to thank the mayor and city council for your confidence in me to serve as your city manager,” she said. “We proactively laid a new foundation to evolve into a more customer-centric organization that does business with thoughtfulness, yet urgency.”
“Together, we can continue to improve and make Dallas an even greater city,” Tolbert said.
As part of her role as City Manager, Tolbert will write the city’s $5 billion budget, oversee the police and fire departments and manage the people in charge of building permits and road repair. Under the city’s charter, the position technically has more responsibility and power than the mayor.
Naming a permanent police chief is among the most immediate challenges facing Tolbert, who first scored a victory in her interim role in fending off other cities that were looking to hire away the popular Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia – only for her to then lose him to Austin last fall.