Fingers Crossed That New Dallas City Manager Is a Fast Learner

Both inside and outside City Hall, it's been painfully clear that the next person tapped for the job of running Dallas needed to be an outsider.Ask taxpayers and they'll tell you that too often 1500 Marilla fails at delivering basic services. They point to lousy roads, code enforcement shortcomings and a growing homeless population.Even many of those inside City Hall have more than a healthy skepticism about how things are working.In response, the City Council took a rare step Friday toward hiring someone new to Dallas to be its top boss, naming Tacoma manager T.C. Broadnax to the job.Broadnax, who now runs a city one-sixth the size of Dallas, says he clearly heard the concerns that "there's not a lot of forward-looking leadership here" and he's up for the new challenge.He better be. Dallas City Hall needs a big overhaul, not a tuneup.While the pension mess and the police and fire pay referendum lawsuits have understandably hogged recent headlines, Dallas residents are counting on this city manager hire to deal effectively with so much more than that.  Continue reading...