Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax has announced his resignation on Wednesday. That’s according to a press release from the City Manager’s office.
Broadnax will stay on with the city to help in the transition of his replacement – but his resignation is effective June 3, 2024. Broadnax confirmed his decision in an email to city staffers on Wednesday afternoon.
"It has been my distinct honor and privilege to have served as your City Manager for the last seven years. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and grateful for the support I received during my tenure," Broadnax wrote.
"It is my hope that my departure provides the City Council an opportunity to reset, refocus, and transition to a new City Manager that continues to move the City forward and will allow for a more effective working relationship with the Mayor and City Council moving forward."
The decision comes amidst tense discussion and some infighting between Broadnax and members of the Dallas City Council.
A news release from Wednesday — which cited District 5 Council Liaison Penny Anderly as point of contact — said Broadnax resignation comes “at the suggestion of the majority of the Dallas City Council.”
“The dynamic between…key citywide figures has unfortunately hindered the realization of our city’s full potential, and it is imperative that we address this issue head-on in order to move forward,” the statement said.
District 7 Council Member Adam Bazaldua said this:
“Our city has truly benefited by having such a talented city manager leading our city. It’s unfortunate that this decision has been the direct result of an uncooperative environment fostered by the lack of city-wide leadership on our council,” Bazaldua said. “If it wasn’t apparent before, how imperative it is to cultivate a more collaborative and supportive atmosphere, I sure hope it is now.”
Bazaldua said he believes the council has “no North Star” and that he hopes “this deep loss to our city results in leadership that we have been lacking.”
Broadnax has had a rocky relationship with the mayor and some council members.
In 2022, the mayor and three council members called for his firing. He'd faced criticism for how he'd handled delays at the time in the city's building permitting process — and how he responded to a deletion of police files during the data transfer.
Broadnax and his detractors were able to patch up things in 2022. He agreed to meeting with Johnson on a biweekly basis moving forward.
The city manager acknowledged at the time he could do better.
“I know my team and I can be better," he said in a statement. "I understand that I am fully accountable to my 15 bosses. So today, I want to say to the mayor, to the members of the City Council, and to all the residents of this dynamic city: I accept the challenge.”
More recently, Mayor Johnson claimed that Broadnax disregarded the recommendations of the 15-member council appointed Community Bond Task Force — and tried to "move forward instead with city staff's recommendation as a starting point" for the upcoming bond allocations.
"As a reminder, this is absolutely not the decision of the city manager or city staff. While we always appreciate staff input, this is a policy decision that belongs first to the Dallas City Council and then ultimately to the people of Dallas," Johnson wrote in a memo late last year.
Johnson was absent at the meeting he alleges Broadnax's subversion of the bond task force.
Similar skirmishes have taken place between other members of the city council. Those include over budget recommendations and the plan to fix the severely underfunded public safety pension system.
According to Broadnax's contract, the city manager can be removed by a majority vote of the city council. That would be considered "involuntary separation" from the city — along with "the City Manager's resignation following a suggestion, whether formal or informal, by a majority of the City Council that he resign."
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