DALLAS — The city could be set for a shake-up soon as the Dallas City Council will consider removing the city manager during a special meeting Wednesday.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax had already been asked to resign but refused, council members say.
With that in mind, there could be a new city manager coming soon. But what exactly does a city manager do?
Well, it can depend on the type of government system the city operates under, but in Dallas, the city manager does much as his title implies -- managing city operations and priorities.
The City of Dallas website explains the city manager is responsible for implementing policy decisions made by the mayor and council, as well as preparing the recommended annual budget. He also appoints and supervises city personnel not appointed by the council, helps enforce city laws and ordinances and recommends operation improvements.
Dallas at present has a council-manager form of government, which basically means combining the citizen input of a council system with the training and experience of a city manager.
You can think of it similarly to a corporation with a board of directors and a CEO. While the council sets the agenda, adopts laws and appoints the city manager, the manager is in charge of overseeing the multitude of departments run by the city.
In Dallas, the city has more than 13,000 employees and a total operating budget of more than $2.1 billion.
Broadnax was hired as city manager in 2016, arriving in Dallas from Tacoma, Wash., where he was also city manager.
Over the last year, Broadnax has dealt with several issues related to city staffing and technology, including severe staffing shortages at the city's 911 call center.
The 911 call center issues came to a head last summer when a young 6-year-old girl died of a stabbing after the police response was delayed.
Johnson called on Broadnax to fix the staffing shortages, calling the issue "absolutely unacceptable."
Broadnax last year was also faced with a massive city-data loss that impacted police files. Broadnax was criticized for learning about the data loss in April 2021 but not informing the council until August, when the story broke in the news.
