By Everton Bailey Jr.
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax applied for the same job in Austin one day before the Feb. 26 deadline — which was four days after his resignation was announced, according to his cover letter.
Of the 39 people who applied for the Austin City Manager job, Broadnax was at least one of nine people whose application materials are dated either the day before or the day of the deadline. That group includes the other two named finalists alongside Broadnax, Denton City Manager Sara Hensley and Kansas City (Mo.) City Manager Brian Platt.
In his résumé and cover letter, which was obtained by The Dallas Morning News through a public records request, Broadnax touts his leadership of Dallas emphasizing his strategies in addressing public safety, equity and inclusion, housing and homelessness, transportation, economic development, historic preservation, community engagement and other areas. He wrote that he is committed to local government and “eager to work in partnership with the mayor and City Council to advance the city of Austin and take the city to the next level.”
“My professional work experience provides a solid local government management foundation, well-suited for the responsibilities and duties of this position,” Broadnax’s cover letter said. “As the city manager of the city of Dallas, TX, my skills, and abilities qualify me for this position and allow me to bring a unique perspective and proven record in city management, financial, and operational performance to support the Austin City Council’s goals for the next city manager.”
A review by The News of the résumés and cover letters for all 39 applicants shows Broadnax is the only one with experience as a city manager leading a city comparable to the size of Austin, which has the 10th largest population in the country with more than 970,000 residents.
The next closest is Platt, who has managed the municipal government operations for a city of more than 500,000 residents since 2020. Platt announced Sunday that he was withdrawing his name for consideration for Austin city manager. The Kansas City Star reported Monday that the Kansas City Council recently authorized negotiations to extend Platt’s contract on the condition he drop out of Austin’s city manager search.
Since March 2022, Hensley has been the permanent city manager in Denton, which has around 150,000 residents. Between May 2019 and March 2022, she has worked as Denton’s interim city manager, deputy city manager, and assistant city manager, according to her résumé. She also worked as an interim Austin assistant city manager for two years starting in March 2017 and was Austin’s parks and recreation director from December 2008 to March 2017.
The application pool ranged from an Austin real estate agent and an Austin pool repair company owner, to other city managers in cities under 350,000 residents in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Oregon. The group also includes a former Austin assistant city manager and former city managers for Amarillo and Lake Dallas.
Among the accomplishments in Dallas that Broadnax lists in his cover letter are overseeing the development of alternatives to police response like RIGHT Care, a violence interrupters program and the establishment of a community police oversight office. He noted the creation of the R.E.A.L. Time Dallas Rapid Rehousing Program, a regional effort that has helped more than 2,700 people experiencing homelessness into apartments, the development of Connect Dallas, a citywide strategy on how to address all forms of transportation in the city, and development of a city economic development and incentive policy.
Several community police oversight board members recently told The News that the system hasn’t been effective since its creation in 2019 and has been plagued by confusion and uncertainty.
“In the various cities where I have served, I have built my brand and reputation on being a community-centered leader,” Broadnax said in his cover letter. “This has provided me with the opportunity to interact and engage with various levels of government, business leaders, community organizations, and the public to address complex problems and build meaningful relationships. As a convener and connector, I understand the level of leadership that the city manager’s office must exhibit and embrace all the challenges and responsibilities that it entails.”
Broadnax started as Dallas City Manager in 2017 after serving five years as city manager in Tacoma, Wash. He also has worked as an assistant city manager in San Antonio and Pompano Beach, Fla.
In his time with the city, he has been praised for pushing Dallas’ municipal government to focus on racial equity, leading the city through the pandemic, establishing new departments and functions like the Office of Homeless Solutions and navigating dozens of personalities on the City Council.
He has also been criticized for not responding quickly enough in solving some long-running city issues, such as delays in issuing building permits, and not communicating enough with the City Council during some times of crisis, such as when an IT employee deleted millions of police files. His working relationship with Mayor Eric Johnson has been, at times, tenuous. The mayor, in 2022, led a public effort to fire Broadnax, but it was dropped after council support to boot the city manager waned.
Broadnax’s resignation in Dallas was announced Feb. 21 and came “at the suggestion of the majority of the City Council.” That action apparently could trigger a clause in his contract that says the city will owe him a lump sum payment matching his $423,246 annual salary.
Broadnax’s resignation goes into effect on June 3. The Dallas City Council on Feb. 27 appointed Deputy City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert as interim city manager after Broadnax leaves.
Austin, like Dallas, is under a council-manager form of government, where the city manager runs the day-to-day operations of the city and is appointed by the City Council, whose members are each elected by the public and have equal voting power.
Dallas is the ninth largest city in the country with around 1.3 million, has around 13,100 employees and a $4.6 billion budget. Austin has more than 16,000 municipal employees, and the Austin City Council last summer adopted a $5.5 billion budget.
Several Dallas city council members told The News last week when Broadnax was announced as a finalist for the Austin job that they thought he was a strong candidate, but some were caught off-guard.
“I did not know this was coming,” said council member Paula Blackmon. “I did not know that he was applying and that he would eventually be a finalist. But he’ll be a fine city manager wherever he goes.”
Council members Carolyn King Arnold, Omar Narvaez and Jaynie Schultz also told The News that they thought highly of Broadnax and noted his experiences working in Dallas and San Antonio were advantages.
“Any city that gets to work with Mr. Broadnax is fortunate,” Schultz said. “Though it is time for him to leave Dallas, he is a talented leader with much to offer.”
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
