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Dallas hosts public meet-and-greet for three city manager finalists
Summary
Residents met three finalists for Dallas city manager at a City Hall forum where candidates outlined their experience, priorities and past results, and attendees were invited to complete a survey to inform the selection process.
Residents gathered at Dallas City Hall for a public forum introducing three finalists for the city manager role, where each candidate gave a brief opening statement and then took part in a meet-and-greet with community members.
Edward Williams of Baker Tilly welcomed attendees, described the event format and said the forum was intended to give residents an opportunity to weigh in on the city manager selection through in-person conversations and a QR‑code survey. An unidentified city official who addressed the room emphasized community engagement and urged viewers watching online to complete the survey.
William Johnson, identified himself as a "city management executive with over 30 years' experience," saying he has managed organizations with budgets "in excess of $2,600,000,000" and more than "8,000 employees," and that he would focus on equitable investment, accountability and collaboration if selected. "I don't look at this as something that I'm going to do alone," Johnson said, stressing community engagement.
A candidate who identified himself as Bridal described his immigrant background and public‑sector record. He said he currently serves as an assistant city manager overseeing public safety for the City of Sacramento and credited a collaborative effort there with reducing homelessness by "40%"; he also listed pandemic‑era programs his team helped launch, including childcare for essential workers, vaccination clinics and meal delivery to seniors.
A third candidate (introduced by moderators as "Mister Lara" and "Miss Tolbert" in remarks assigning candidate table locations) described decades of service in Dallas and senior city management roles. That speaker said they have led portfolios totaling "over $2,000,000,000" in budgets and "28,100 Dallas team members," and said they worked to close a "$38,000,000 budget deficit," finding "$13,000,000" in recurring savings and developing a "$5,200,000,000" budget that helped deliver a unanimous property tax reduction.
Organizers closed the opening remarks with instructions on the meet-and-greet format, urging attendees to limit conversations to about 2–3 minutes per candidate so others could participate and reminding everyone to complete the survey before leaving. The in-person forum then moved into an interactive period where attendees circulated among candidate tables.
The city council and city staff members were thanked for their participation; no formal votes or council actions were taken during this forum. The moderator said there will be another event later in the day.
