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Good evening:
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert technically marks one year in the job this week.
In reality, she’s been running the day-to-day operations at City Hall for most of the past two years — since her predecessor announced his resignation in February 2024 and the City Council named her the interim boss.
To fairly assess a city manager’s performance, one must understand our special form of government. The city manager is the CEO, reporting to a board of 14 City Council members and a mayor whose powers are among the most limited of any major city mayor in America.
Tolbert came to the post with years of experience at City Hall over two stints dating to the 1990s. She convinced the City Council to drop the interim title in part because she never treated the job like it was temporary.
In her first few months in 2024, she ramped up policing and homelessness response in Downtown, consolidated duplicative departments after years of bureaucratic growth, and won unanimous City Council approval for her first annual budget as boss.
As The Dallas Morning News reports today, her biggest ticket item to date is the pending City Council decision on whether to leave City Hall for another Downtown location or find a way to fund likely hundreds of millions of dollars in fixes. That decision may have major ramifications for whether a local NBA team stays in the urban core or goes elsewhere.
The City Hall decision comes amid questions about the future of Downtown and the City as a whole, increasing pressure to staff up the police department, and tough budget decisions.
The sense of urgency on these and other issues is growing in part because the clock is winding down for Mayor Eric Johnson and five term-limited council members. Council members Chad West, Jaime Resendez, Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, and Cara Mendelsohn will all follow Johnson out the door in December 2027. Others could lose elections or opt not to run again.
For Tolbert, that means a major reset with at least six new bosses in less than two years.
A note to readers: Meetings of Interest is an independent newsletter curated and authored by The GoldHam Group Managing Partner Scott Goldstein and edited by GoldHam Managing Partners Sam Goldstein and Vana Hammond. The content, perspectives, or commentary presented herein reflect the views of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of any other organization, institution, or individual, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Any affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement.
📖 Table of Contents
🗞️ Highlights From Last Week’s Meetings and Media
Downtown Policing Up, Crime Down
Backed by the public-private Safe in the City initiative, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux and his officers drove down violent crime in Downtown by more than 12% in 2025, as compared to 2024. The new Downtown Police Division has roughly 120 officers, a sharp increase over staffing levels under prior police leadership.
A City Council committee punted to next month discussion of a Park and Recreation Department plan to seek an outside operator for the City-owned Southern Skates Roller Rink. The Dallas Morning News reports on the state of the rink, with a nod to past attempts to seek outside operators.
Residents of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) cities that vote to withdraw from the agency in May would lose all services immediately, DART officials say, impacting riders throughout the regional system, The Dallas Morning News reports.
Dallas City Council Members voted on Wednesday to:
Approve a $10 million development agreement to transform the vacant former Oak Cliff United Methodist Church into flexible workspaces for commercial and retail tenants, and about 45 multi-family residential units. Learn more about “The Jefferson,” a project estimated to cost $19.5 million total.
Approve Item 17 to authorize a public hearing to be held on January 28 "to receive comments on proposed amendments and updates to the City’s Economic Development Incentive Policy.” Read the proposed changes.
Delay a requested zoning change to allow for a 25-story mixed-use development with hotel, multifamily, and retail uses on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the heart of South Dallas. Leaders of the church behind the plan said in emails to some area nonprofits that God gave the vision for the project, Robert Wilonsky reported for The News last year. In October, City Plan Commissioners voted 10-0 to deny the project.
📝 Memos of Interest
Dallas must do away with a rainbow-colored Oak Lawn crosswalk, state officials said in response to the City’s request for an exception to Gov. Greg Abbott’s 2025 directive on “roadway safety guidelines.” If Dallas does not comply, the state may withhold or deny state and federal transportation funding.
Atmos Energy Corporation wants to increase the average residential monthly gas bill by more than $11 starting this summer in an effort to increase annual revenues by more than $38 million. The City has pushed back on rate hikes every year since at least 2019, The Dallas Morning News reported last year.
Dallas is seeking more than $17 million in federal community project funding requests, also known as earmarks. Pending asks touch parks, safety, libraries, and more.
Check out the complete City Manager Memo packet for Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
🔢 Number of Interest
12%
Reduction in violent crime in Downtown Dallas in 2025, as compared to 2024. That includes a 31% drop in aggravated assaults (non-family violence).
🤝 Meetings of Interest: January 20 - 23, 2026
Tuesday, January 20
Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall
More discussion is planned on regulating “extraordinary neighborhood events,” including the Tik Tok-famous North Dallas home whose elaborate Christmas and Halloween displays jammed up traffic and caused headaches for residents of the 6200 block of Deloache Avenue.
Four Dallas libraries are recommended for closure under a proposed regional model that includes expanded hours at multiple flagship libraries across the city.
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall
Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs, 3 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall
Dallas City Council members went years without conducting annual performance evaluations on some of their direct reports. On Tuesday, committee members will discuss a consultant’s proposed 12-phase goal setting and performance evaluation process for the city manager, city attorney, city auditor, city secretary, and inspector general. It’s an HR director’s dream come true. Read the briefing.
Committee members will also interview two search firms to recruit for the vacant inspector general position. City Council members hired — and subsequently “discharged” — someone who did not meet the voter-approved job requirements. The firm the City used the last time around is not listed as a candidate.
Two other items of interest are up for discussion: City Hall’s policy on remote work and “campaign contributions and use of campaign and officeholder accounts.”
Wednesday, January 21
Dallas City Council Briefing, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall
This agenda also includes an update on how the region is preparing for nearly 4 million visitors this summer for FIFA World Cup 2026, with nine matches at “Dallas Stadium.” 🤫 The International Broadcast Center is being stood up at the Downtown convention center. Fair Park will play host to a FIFA Fan Festival and volunteer center.
Landmark Commission Designation Committee, 5:45 p.m., Wilson House, 2922 Swiss Avenue, Dallas TX 75204
Committee members are scheduled to discuss the status of their work to designate Dallas City Hall as a City of Dallas Landmark. The effort formally launched in January 2025, months before City Council members began discussions about potentially bailing on the I.M. Pei-designed joint. The City Council has final authority over landmark designation.
Thursday, January 22
Dallas Park & Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall
Heads up, Tim Rogers, Park Board members (including this newsletter author) are scheduled to vote on a $347,500 increase on a White Rock Lake dredging engineering design contract.
Friday, January 23
Trinity River Corridor Local Government Corporation, 10 a.m., 6ES Briefing Room, Dallas City Hall
This agenda includes an update on the Harold Simmons Park West Overlook, which broke ground last spring.
🗣️ Quote of Interest
We urge other successful business and civic leaders in Dallas to think hard about what their legacies will be. We desperately need more leaders like Walt Humann. We need people who want to leave our city a better place than they found it.
Have a great week.
Best,
Scott Goldstein
Managing Partner
The GoldHam Group
Sam Goldstein, Scott Goldstein, and Vana Hammond are co-founders and managing partners of The GoldHam Group, a Dallas-based boutique communications, events, and public affairs firm.
