Dallas has little Johnson available for city council business according to an article by KERA citing frequent absences and early departures.
It has led to another defeat at the horseshoe where he can not bring tax savings to local residents.
Per the KERA story, Mayor Johnson has missed more than 130 hours since 2019. This is more time than the next three city council members combined.
A graphic from KERA shows Mayor Eric Johnson outpacing his colleagues for time away from city business.
Per KERA, Mayor Johnson missed thirteen meetings in their entirety. No other member of city council has missed more than three.
Dallas Has Little Johnson – By The Numbers
In 2022, during the failed attempt to remove TC Broadnax as City Manager it was noted Mayor Johnson couldn’t count to eight.
Eight is the number of city council members voting needed for a majority. Some of the criticism of his vote whipping abilities is his part time status as mayor.
One critic said, “he doesn’t carry himself like an executive because he is there for the perks, not the people.”
Johnson’s inability to do anything meaningful shows again and again, whether it is trying to defund the bureaucracy or tame city hall.
Dallas Budget Showdown 2023 is here now that the budget was released over two weeks ago and the usual sparklers, not fireworks, have begun.
Late last week, Mayor Eric Johnson sent a memo to TC Broadnax, directing him to develop a new FY 2023–24 Budget. The new budget is based upon a no-new-revenue tax rate.
The mayor is following the lead of Cara Mendelsohn, who has been a consistent voice on the budget since Lee Kleinman left city council two years ago.
Dallas Budget Showdown 2023 Details
Other Side Dallas notes that year in and year out some council members provide performative actions against the budget.
These consistently result in no tax savings to the taxpayer or structural support long term.
Specifically, Dallas has a shortfall anticipated in the next five years that may total one billion dollars. Part of the problem is non response to another structural problem with public safety pensions.
Smoke and mirrors have provided some illusion of lower crime, but most citizens see crime problems creeping further into Dallas.
The Dallas Budget 23-24 is now public after TC Broadnax released his plan to lower crime or tax bills for local residents.
Broadnax’s recommendations for the 2023-2024 budget include more money for police and fire personnel. There is a modest cut to the overall tax rate. The new rate is still a tax increase against appraisals that are rising by ten percent or more.
The budget also includes more money for staff to enforce city council’s move against short term rentals.
The budget also has funding for new technology infrastructure.
Ransomware attacks in Dallas caused problems for Dallas Fire Rescue response and basic services. For weeks, library patrons could not use the request system to check out items.
Lauren Davis won’t take no for an answer from Dallas voters and is already preparing a run for Mayor of Dallas.
A phone text survey went out Saturday and Sunday per multiple readers asking would recipients prefer Davis or Eric Johnson. Lurking in the not so distant shadows is Michael Hinojosa and possibly Adam Bazaldua.
It appears Davis may be ready to continue the abuse of the Dallas voter for another campaign cycle.
It is unclear who is paying for the polling since there was no TEC required disclosure.
Lauren Davis Won’t Take No Or Yes
Davis received notoriety for pushing campus protests at Dealey Montessori during the 2021-2022 school year. Those protests culminated with dangerous posts by her business The Gents Place about preferred firearms between the AK47 and M16. Dealey Montessori previously was considered a crown jewel of Dallas Independent School District.
Davis recently lost the County Judge election against Clay Jenkins by a nearly two-to-one margin. This was more than one hundred thousand vote separation.
Davis made her entire campaign about her personal victimhood during the Dealey saga she created. She is also said to have pulled down other GOP candidates forced to run with her including JJ Koch and Greg Shalan in reliably red areas.
Other Side Dallas welcomes reader information and if you have information on potential candidatesor issues our phone lines are open – proverbially speaking of course. Please reach out and let us know what you’re hearing.
Mayor Eric Johnson surrenders in his battle against TC Broadnax. In a post on Medium, Johnson said he will work with Broadnax moving forward. The two pledged a collaborative environment moving forward.
As we asked earlier it appears Tristan Hallman is the mayor’s janitor – cleaning up his messes.
Less than two weeks ago Johnson said,” it was time for a change at the top of our city government.” Johnson now realizes he is short the votes needed to remove Broadnax. Johnson has effectively boxed himself into a corner.
Eric Johnson Surrenders
The mayor and city manager have “agreed” to improve personal relations. They will focus their combined attention on several issues.
Those include permitting, public safety, and general city communication.
Permitting may be the biggest issue to tackle.
The city manager will develop a new action plan for permitting delays. It is unclear if he will start anew or use Council Member Blackmon’s recommendations from May.
The plan will move from the usual city system and be customer centric. The goal is to both create systemic improvements in the system, but also respond to issues now.
On public safety, the two have found new friendship. Both Mayor Johnson and City Manager Broadnax say they will work together.
Broadnax has committed to active and timely meet-and-confer negotiations with public safety. This is for both fire and police services.
Broadnax will also continue violence interruption service, lightning improvements, and blight remediation. Violence interruption often has high price tags with questionable results.
The mayor and city manager will also start having biweekly discussion on issues to promote discussion. A few citizens we spoke to already expected this type of communication and were surprised it wasn’t happening already.
Moving forward initiatives like the mayor’s “Summer of Safety” campaign will be a focus.
These issues will receive attention also. They include attracting talent, technology infrastructure, and firefighter concerns.
Is Tristan Hallman a fall guy or the mayor’s janitor trying to clean up the inevitable mess that follows him?
Ten days ago Dallas expected TC Broadnaz to be cleaning his office by now. Instead it appears Broadnax is stronger than ever and has a council majority behind him.
Hallman is the former Dallas Morning News reporter/editor who is the mayor’s policy chief.
Tristan Hallman – Man In The Middle
Some city employees accuse Hallman of fabricating city council signatures. Those signatures were on the five signature memo putting Broadnax contract for discussion.
The Broadnax agenda item fell off the schedule once it was obvious Broadnax would not resign. It appears either the Mayor or his acting chief of staff can not count to eight. (Eight votes are needed to remove Broadnax from his position.)
Adam Bazaldua’s name appeared on the five signature memo calling to review Broadnax.
He was unquivocal: “mayor’s staff fabricated this memo and submitted it to themselves.”
Other Side Dallas reached out to Hallman more than a week ago with no response. This is a stern accusation and it isn’t clear who will investigate it.
Hallman – Not All Failure
Hallman is not a complete failure. He has helped the mayor win at least one award.
While Mayor Johnson was unable to defund the bureaucracy he did win an award. Texas Monthly gave Johnson a Bum Steer Award. They credited his ability to ‘managed to alienate almost everyone.’
While Texas Monthly notes Johnson’s decade of time in the state legislature, they fail to mention any accomplishments.
The Johnson-Hallman duo has shown complete ineptitude on both economic development and sports.
Earlier this month, Johnson argued for another NFL franchise in Dallas. NFL watchers stated the obvious: Eric Johnson is an idiot. “Jerry Jones won’t allow a team in San Antonio, why would he here?”
Jerry Jones and Cowboys throw penalty flag all over idea of second franchise. Eric Johnson had an accident and it wasn’t a coup attempt against TC Broadnax this time. It was closer to Amber Heard testimony in her defamation trial with Johnny Depp.
In a report in TMZ, Jerry Jones blasts the mayor for talk of a second NFL franchise in North Texas, much less Dallas.
In an interview, Jones said, “I like him personally, but he doesn’t have the depth. He doesn’t have the knowledge.”
Jones was responding to Mayor Johnson’s recent suggestion the Chargers re-locate here.
— Mayor Eric L. Johnson (@Johnson4Dallas) June 10, 2022
Most fans agreed with Jones about Johnson, but extended it to city administration. It is also unclear if citizens heard wild laughing from the City Manager’s office.
We know Jerry Jones recently had a car accident in Dallas. We didn’t realize he would have a second one so soon running over Eric Johnson.
Cowboys Throw Penalty Flag Among Others
The Cowboys throw penalty flag on Dallas isn’t the only issue. There are problems across Dallas.
Dallas has bad economic numbers due to a permitting office that doesnt issue permits.
Despite the presentation at Wednesday’s board briefing, citizens feel crime is up. Crime is up one you look city wide and not the chief’s containment areas.
Roads are problematic throughout Dallas.
The city council has a problem getting along with one another and their city manager.
Johnson is chasing professional sports franchises instead of ensuring the city runs well.
At the same time, something is afoot. After the failed coup attempt, council members are in distress.
Council member Mendelsohn has defended the mayor to a degree some question.
“Wednesday went very, very bad for the mayor,” one person said. “She knows it, but is now arguing he somehow didn’t fall on his face.”
Several say Mendelsohn is in favor of a charter amendment supporting a strong mayor. That amendment can not happen for two years and some project longer.
A South Dallas activist said, “why would we allow a strong mayor system when we don’t have a strong mayor now?”
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in Dallas metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League as a member club.
In 2021 they finished 12-5 and won the NFC East. They lost their first playoff game against the 10-7 San Francisco 49ers.
D Magazine got the scoop Wednesday afternoon during the city council briefings. They report that a behind the scenes effort was underway to encourage Broadnax to resign.
Are voters ready to show Eric Johnson the door?
The five signature memo stated “While performance reviews are tentatively scheduled for later this month, we believe for the good of the City of Dallas, we must act expeditiously.”
The memo went on to say: “We hereby request that the performance review of the City Manager and any related official actions supported by a majority of the Dallas City Council, be scheduled on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.”
The plan involved a five signature memo from council members. Those council members are:
Chad West (D1),
Jesse Moreno (D2),
Adam Bazaldua (D7),
Paula Blackmon (D9), and
Cara Mendelsohn (D12).
Separate from the memo, Tennell Atkins (D7) and Gay Donnell Willis (D13) met with Broadnax. They reportedly offered him the courtesy to resign. Neither ever added their name to the now infamous memo.
Council members Blackmon and Willis met with Broadnax again. This was to encourage a quiet agreement to leave by noon Friday.
When that deadline passed, Mayor Can’t Count dropped his public announcement.
Here comes the tricky part. Both West and Bazaldua heard from city staff that the memo would not be filed.
Goodman quotes West as saying the memo would not be filed “without the consent of all five people.” me. I never consented” to it.
Bazaldua stated “my digital signature was used for this memo, without my consent.” Bazaldua specifically referred in this case to Tristan Hallman.
Hallman is the mayor’s chief of policy and communications.
West, Moreno, and Bazaldua all then pulled their names from the five signature memo.
Eric Johnson Can’t Count Again
The politics of Broadnax are clear. He is unhealthy for the City of Dallas.
As noted in local news, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has called for his ouster.
Dallas Professional Firefighters – who never make a move without getting permission of Dallas Police Association first – also called for Broadnax to be get the boot.
There is a long list of accountability issues with Broadnax’s tenure. Some of those include general management accountability including failure to supervise former Police Chief Reneé Hall, the loss of terabytes of city data, and a nonfunctional permit office inhibiting economic growth.
One concern is that Eric Johnson again showed he is not up to the job of being mayor in Dallas.
A campaign consultant said, “EJ gave us Broadnax another three years.”
He always has to show how smart he is, but he always fails the test,” he continued.”
It’s unclear how council moves forward, but it appears Mayor Broadnax is driving the bus.
Another said “if only Johnson could get it up to eight on an important vote once he might have credibility.”
This all leads to speculation for who Dallas Citizens Council will support in 2023. Other Side Dallas expects candidates to come out shortly after the redistricting completes.
It also leads to questions about why Eric Johnson can’t get it up to eight on important votes.
It appears there is no excitement at today’s Dallas City Council briefing. TC Broadnax off agenda per the city website marking a huge change since last Friday.
What is the meaning of all this? Last week reports surfaced that TC Broadnax’s career in Dallas was over. An agenda item by Mayor Eric Johnson was going to review his performance as chief executive.
Mayor Johnson has made clear he believes Broadnax should be relieved of his duties.
Johnson and three council members, Blackmon (D9), Mendolsohn (D12), and Willis (D13) have asked that the closed session meeting take place.
Wednesday is typically a staff briefing day.
The mayor says the meeting is to “discuss and evaluate the performance and employment of Dallas City Manager TC Broadnax.”
Johnson said, “several of my duly elected colleagues on the Dallas City Council have made it clear in recent days that they also believe it is time for a change.”
He continued, “we are ready to move forward and discuss how best to build for the future of our great city…”
There is a long list of accountability issues with Broadnax’s tenure. Some of those include general management accountability including failure to supervise former Police Chief Reneé Hall, the loss of terabytes of city data, and a nonfunctional permit office inhibiting economic growth.
Why Is Broadnax Off Agenda?
There was a great deal of retail politics happening this weekend.
Reports surfaced that seven council members had approached Broadnax about resigning his position. They Mayor’s vote would be eight meaning a majority of the council supported the ouster of Broadnax.
It is becoming clear that Broadnax is has at least one, if not two, votes up in the air. Who those city council members are is not clear.
What is clear is today’s agenda no longer refers to an Executive session meeting about his performance. Additionally, his career does not appear in the draft agenda for next week’s city council meeting either.
On Friday, Mayor Johnson and others on Dallas City Council made clear they plan to oust him from his position.
Mayor Johnson has made clear he believes Broadnax should be relieved of his duties given ongoing problems under Broadnax’s supervision.
Johnson and three council members, Blackmon (D9), Mendolsohn (D12), and Willis (D13) have asked for the closed session meeting.
The result is a week of arm twisting to get to eight votes. In Facebook posts, Cara Mendolsohn makes clear she thinks they are there.
There is a long list of accountability issues with Broadnax’s tenure. Some of those include general management accountability including failure to supervise former Police Chief Reneé Hall, the loss of terabytes of city data, and a nonfunctional permit office inhibiting economic growth.
City Manager Broadnax Reacts: The Statement
City Manager Broadnax’s statement is nonconfrontational over the report stating periodic performance review is critical to me…”
He went on to say that these reviews “demonstrate progress” and “ensure transparency…”
