A request for proposals to consulting firms wishing to take on the search for a new Dallas city manager closes at 1 p.m. Friday.
The RFP was issued March 14. The search firm will be tasked with finding qualified, interested, and available candidates for the City Council to interview. The Dallas city manager makes about $423,247 and supervises more than 13,000 employees.
Dallas CIty Manager T.C. Broadnax announced his resignation in February, effective June 3. Deputy City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert was tapped to serve in the interim until a new manager is hired.
During a March 7 meeting of the City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs, Procurement Director Danielle Thompson and Human Resources Director Nina Arias reviewed the results of a council survey regarding its priorities for the search and outlined the RFP parameters. Committee members tightened up the timeline and made some minor changes to the weight of categories listed in the search firm evaluation.
Hiring a search firm will take a while. Once proposals are submitted, they must be evaluated by a committee. Vendor interviews will be arranged. A contract negotiation process is initiated, which involves several departments including the City Attorney’s Office. A City Council approval date — just for the search firm contract — is tentatively scheduled in early June.
City Manager Is ‘The Most Important Job’
A new city manager could be in place by early next year, meaning he or she will miss the May bond election and budget adoption, which occurs in the fall.
Searches also are underway for a Dallas housing director and planning director.
Council members have expressed interest in employing a search firm that already has been retained.
The city manager ultimately will be hired by the Dallas City Council.
District 6 Councilman Omar Narvaez said he understands wanting to move quickly but was concerned about rushing the process.
“Let’s do this right because this is the most important job that we’re hiring of the four that we hire,” he said.
Referencing a rubric prioritizing what is needed in a search firm, District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn said experience and qualifications are the most important criteria.
“That’s the majority of what we’re looking for — someone who’s going to understand what we are and what we need,” she said. “They’re going to go out and find not just the person who has experience but has the right personality, work ethic, and ability to communicate and provide vision and management, actual management of departments that are achieving the results we’re expecting.”
