Dallas council could vote to fire city manager T.C. Broadnax

DALLAS - Dallas City Council members will consider firing the city manager at a meeting next Wednesday. 

The mayor said in a statement that he believes it is time for a change, and at least three council members agree with him. 

There's been conflict between the council, which runs the city, and the city manager, who manages the day-to-day operations.

Things got tense in 2020 over police overtime funding. But the last straw was apparently the long delays in issuing building permits.

FOX 4 News has learned councilmembers gave T.C. Broadnax the opportunity to resign before noon on Friday. But since he did not step down, three councilmembers moved forward with the meeting calling for his discipline or removal. 

The city manager said in a statement he is proud of the work he has done, but multiple council members appear to be willing to force him out.

Councilwoman Paula Blackmon is joined with councilwomen Cara Mendelsohn and Gay Donnell Willis in calling for a meeting next Wednesday to consider firing the Dallas city manager. 

Broadnax has been with the city for more than five years and has come criticized recently for massive delays in getting building permits out to developers and homeowners. 

The building permit backlog has been going on for two years and, in some cases, is getting worse.

"I believe they are important function of our city," Blackmon said. "And when small businesses and contractors are calling me because it’s been 12 weeks to get a permit to get a simple bathroom done, it bothers me."

At a meeting last month, Broadnax took some responsibility for the problems. 

"I've been pushing staff for improvements to the system," he said in the meeting. "It's on me for not managing these issues, but I have capable folks."

Phil Crone with the Dallas Builders' Association says Dallas is the outlier among North Texas cities.

"I think it's sustained inattention to this issue that's really at the heart of it," he said. "And you look at every other city, there aren't any permitting issues there. Our association represents more than 100 cities across DFW, and this is a non-issue."

The mayor tasked Blackmon to take a deep dive into how to solve the problems with the building permit office, but she says her conversations with Broadnax troubled her. 

"Where is the plan to remedy these? And what I got was, ‘It's a PR issue.’ And I know it’s not a PR issue. I know it's not," she said. "Let's be intellectually honest and say we have a problem, and we are working to fix it. That's what I want to see in our leader, and constituents want to hold him accountable to."

Blackmon says she is also frustrated with how the city manager handled a massive loss of data involving millions of files from the Dallas Police Department. 

"We were not notified of it. It happened, three weeks went by, and we had to hear from another governmental agency about it," she said. "This will affect our cases and our public safety, and it was a systems issue that has been failing."

Mayor Eric Johnson supports the change.

"I believe it is time for a change in city management. Several of my duly elected colleagues on the Dallas City Council have made it clear in recent days that they also believe it is time for a change. We are ready to move forward and discuss how best to build for the future of our great city and its amazing people, and that is why I have placed the item on the City Council’s agenda for next week," he said in a statement.

"I want to know I have a city manager who is hiring the best people, working with them, showing leadership and getting our problems fixed," Blackmon said.

In response to the calls for him to be fired, Broadnax released a statement saying, "Periodic performance review is critical to me and all city employees to demonstrate progress and ensure transparency for our residents, taxpayers, and stakeholders."

It would take eight votes to fire the city manager. Between the mayor and the memo, it appears there are at least four votes. 

Councilman Jaime Resendez said in a statement: "I don’t think T.C. should be fired, but I am supportive of council members asking questions and getting across whatever concerns they have."

Councilman Tennell Atkins called this whole thing messy and said he would make his decision known on Wednesday.

The council is expected to meet in executive session Wednesday night and could vote on the matter in public afterward.

Broadnax was hired as the Dallas city manager in 2016. He came to the city from Tacoma, Washington.

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