Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson took on problems with accountability in city government and unemployment at the State of the City address on Wednesday.
“The city council must monitor our progress and ensure that our city's bureaucracy is coming up with way to fix issues that have lingered for far too long,” Johnson said.
He announced the so-called Sunset Review Process to evaluate the need of existing city departments, offices and programs.
This comes after the city lost 22 terabytes of data and may have put criminal prosecutions at risk earlier this year. The missing files affected more than 17,400 criminal cases, according to a city report released in October.
An investigation on the loss continues. Johnson promises the new review process will provide oversight at city hall and hold elected officials accountable.
Johnson also announced that a new report looking at workforce development will be released this week.
“To truly build for our city’s future – and specifically for the future of southern Dallas we have to start thinking about the people who can fill those jobs,” Johnson said.
It will include recommendations on how to sustain the existing workforce in the city and a new tool that will point Dallas residents to job opportunities.
Johnson said that workforce development is “is hardly talked about” but is key to growing a diverse economy.
Early next year, he will name a new workforce czar who will be tasked with implementing the report’s recommendations.
Click below to listen to the full State of the City.
Got a tip? Alejandra Martinez is a Report For America corps member for KERA News. Email Alejandra at amartinez@kera.org. You can follow Alejandra on Twitter @alereports.
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