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Dallas City Council elects new mayor pro tem positions for 2023-24

Dallas City Hall

Photo courtesy of PCF

As they do every June, the Dallas City Council has elected new officer leadership, appointing two positions among themselves to serve as assistant mayor types: Councilmember Tennell Atkins was reappointed as Mayor Pro Tem, and Councilmember Adam Bazaldua was appointed as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem.

These one-year appointments are effective June 17.

Atkins represents District 8, the southernmost district, stretching horizontally from Westmoreland on the west to Lasater on the east. He's been in office since 2017. He is the Chair of the Economic Development Committee, Ad Hoc Committee on Pensions, and the Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs. In the role of Mayor Pro Tem, Atkins will carry out the duties of the mayor in their absence and play a role in advancing the City Council’s agenda.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Bazaldua represents District 7; he was elected in 2019. He chairs the Committee of Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture. As Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, Bazaldua will support the Mayor Pro Tem and step in when both the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem are unavailable.

District 7 is in southeast and east Dallas — just south of Deep Ellum and extending east above and below I-30 through Buckner Terrace, White Rock Hills, and the edge of Casa View.

“I am genuinely grateful to my colleagues for the opportunity to serve as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem,” Bazaldua said. “I am committed to serving the needs of the City of Dallas and working with my peers to represent the interests of our community.”

Both pro tem positions are appointed by the City Council from among the current City Councilmembers.

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Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

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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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