The City of Dallas on Tuesday announced the five finalists in the running to become the new city manager.
Four of the candidates are from cities outside of Dallas: T.C. Broadnax, Tacoma city manager; Jelynne LeBlanc-Burley, President and CEO of JLB Group; Maura Black Sullivan, COO of the City of Chattanooga; and Jim Twombly, Tulsa city manager.
Dallas Assistant City Manager Mark McDaniel is the only internal candidate.
#Dallas City Council has invited 5 candidates to interview for City Manager. pic.twitter.com/D4DNEGOqXx
— Sana Syed (@dallaspiosana) November 29, 2016
"We had more than 100 people apply for the job of Dallas city manager and I believe we have selected highly qualified individuals to come interview with the City Council," Mayor Mike Rawlings said in a statement posted to Twitter by City of Dallas spokeswoman Sana Syed. "We look forward to getting to know them better next week."
T.C. Broadnax has been the City Manager of Tacoma, Washington for the past four years. Tacoma is a fraction of the size of Dallas, but has a $1 billion budget.
Jelynne LeBlanc-Burley is a private sector CEO and former Executive Vice President of CPS Energy in San Antonio, the largest city-owned energy company in the country.
She's also a former long-time Deputy City Manager in San Antonio.
James Twombly has been the City Manager of Tulsa since 2009. He oversees a $700 million budget and has experience in brokering successful police and fire labor relations in Tulsa.
Maura Black Sullivan is the Chief Operating Officer of Chattanooga, Tennessee. She oversees a smaller city and a $200 million budget but has deputy managerial experience in the much larger city of Memphis, TN.
And finally, the internal candidate, Mark McDaniel. He's the current Dallas Assistant City Manager who came from Tyler two years ago. McDaniel has also reportedly made a positive impression on several current City Councilmembers.
"I've been in the business 30 years in six different Texas cities," said McDaniel. "So I think this job would be a great capstone for my career."
All five candidates will be in Dallas next week, touring the city, meeting with the public and interviewing privately with the city council. Some councilmembers have suggested a lone finalist could be selected in the next one to two weeks.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Erik Wilson says it's also possible the council will decide to keep looking.
"If the individuals present themselves as though they are ready to move forward and capable of leading the city then I see no reason not to make the decision," said Wilson. "But if we go through the interview process and we just don't feel right then I feel that we may extended the process."
Friday of next week, the City Council will convene a special called meeting to discuss the candidates and determine what to do next.
They could make up their mind on a lone finalist at that time or do as they did with their recent City Attorney search and as Wilson suggests, take more time and keep looking.
A.C. Gonzalez, who has held been at the helm of City Hall since 2014, is stepping down in January.
During Gonzalez' tenure as city manager, a vocal minority of council members have openly voiced displeasure with him over the way he manages city staff and the city’s money.
Gonzalez told News 8 in May that he is not being forced out, but it was pretty clear that it did have an impact on his decision.
Dallas' new city manager will face some big challenges in the coming new year, including a police and fire pension system that is billions of dollars in the hole and the need to hire a new permanent police chief.
Still, members of the council believe the next city manager will be in a good position.
"We are in the middle of a state that's thriving and a region that's thriving," said councilwoman Jennifer Gates on Monday. "There's a lot of good reasons why you would want to come to Dallas."