Tree News

Get your free tree from the city of Dallas and beat climate change

Afterimage Gallery presents Joyce Tenneson: Trees and the Alchemy of Light

One day maybe your tree will be this big.

Photo courtesy of Afterimage Gallery

The city of Dallas is introducing a new program that gives away free trees.

Called Branch Out Dallas, the program provides residents with a tree at no cost for their home.

"Trees provide a long list of benefits to homes and the environment," says James McGuire, director of the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability. "Trees reduce air pollution, cool the air, provide energy savings, and positively slow climate change."

It's part of a bigger program from the city of Dallas to become more green, says spokesperson Judy Schmidt.

"Other cities have done programs like this and we made a decision we wanted to try it," she says.

Branch Out Dallas involves a three-step process.

Step 1: Participants sign up for a free tree by choosing from a list of five species: Shumard oak, chinquapin oak, cedar elm, lacebark elm, or redbud.

At the same time you sign up, you select your pickup location from one of six options:

St. Monica Catholic School
W. H. Adamson High School
Justin F. Kimball High School
Bishop Lynch High School
Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy
Ann Richards Middle School

Step 2: The trees are ordered by the City of Dallas. This does not involve you in any way.

Step 3: On March 9, 2019, the 5-gallon trees will be given out to Dallas residents, along with directions for planting and maintenance.

A 5-gallon container would hold a tree that's about 5 feet tall, at a cost of about $50 per tree.

The program is limited to Dallas residents. A Dallas Water Utility bill or government-issued identification will be required at the time the trees are picked up.

Based on a small pilot program they did earlier this year, they anticipate that 3,000 trees will be distributed and planted through Branch Out Dallas. Then again, that number could seriously increase, now that this article has been posted. The reach of CultureMap extends far and wide.

Registration begins on November 1 and runs through January 11, 2019. Residents can register online at greendallas.net or they may visit one of the city's libraries for registration assistance.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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