“Today was not a good day.”
That lament from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson came just after 1 a.m. Thursday, capping a 16-hour day that exposed deep City Council divisions over the future of City Hall.
Minutes later, the council voted 9–6 to direct the city manager to study moving its emergency operations, dispatch and service call center out of City Hall while devising funding plans for repairing the aging building, staying there and relocating.
The decision came after hours of speeches, amendments and clashes on whether to remain there or leave and redevelop the downtown site.
Supporters said the measure allows Dallas to fully weigh its options before making a final call. The other six warned the city was racing toward a costly and uncertain exit strategy.
Political Points
Members of the audience show support for a speaker who called on the Dallas City Council to repair and preserve the City Hall building. The council heard from the public at a meeting Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
By the end, Johnson broke from his usual role as neutral referee. He rebuked critics of city staff and vendors and voice frustration with those who opposed simply exploring alternatives, saying the rancor carried consequences.
The council’s conduct, he said, raised risks for the city and “we may pay a price for that.”
The road to that vote was a long one.
Morning: The chamber fills
The parade of residents began at 10 a.m., most pleading in a council hearing to save the I.M. Pei-designed City Hall. The building, many argued, isn’t just an inverted pyramid of concrete. It’s a global symbol, a gathering place, a part of the city’s history.
Terri Raith, who has spent 20 years preserving her 100-year-old East Dallas home on the National Register of Historic Places, said that demolishing City Hall would erase a critical public space, one where protests, rallies and civic life unfold.
“City Hall is not just a piece of property owned by the city, it’s owned by us,” Raith said. “It is the beating heart of our town recognized worldwide.”
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Afternoon: The debate unfurls
Others urged the city to find a new home.
By 3:50 p.m., prominent developer Lucy Billingsley took the podium. City Hall was iconic, she said, but inefficient and ill-suited for modern city operations.
Developer Lucy Billingsley speaks about the City Hall building during at a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
“This staff, this city, deserves better,” she argued, pointing to Fort Worth’s City Hall renovation from the former Pier 1 headquarters as an example.
“As much as I love history,” Billingsley said. “I live for tomorrow.”
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Late afternoon: The discussion deepens
City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert was the first to speak after the public at 5:05 p.m., just hours after Mayor Johnson announced her father died the day before and called for a moment of silence.
The resolution the council was considering was straightforward but sweeping: Authorize shifting 311, 911 and emergency operations out of City Hall, explore relocating all other city staff and study redevelopment of the site.
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Dressed in black, Tolbert said the debate was not about deciding City Hall’s fate but gathering information to make that call later.
“To be clear, we’ve heard a lot of comments today, but today is not the finish line,” she said.
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson during a council meeting on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at City Hall in Dallas. The council prepared to consider a resolution directing the city manager to move emergency operations out of City Hall.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Early evening: The accusations build
The night took a turn when AECOM and other companies involved in City Hall’s recent assessment were accused of potentially benefiting from the site’s redevelopment.
Those specialists estimated the building needs $329 million in urgent repairs and more than $1 billion over 20 years for full modernization. It sits on valuable downtown land coveted by developers and defended by preservationists.
Council member Adam Bazaldua said firms advising the city should not later profit from relocation contracts, citing “the incestuous nature of Dallas being Dallas.”
Dallas City Council members Chad West.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Others pushed back.
“I find it really appalling we’re bringing into question their integrity,” council member Chad West said. “It sends a terrible message to other corporations that are looking to come to Dallas to bring their headquarters.”
Consultants also defended their work, including AECOM CEO Troy Rudd in a letter sent to the council.
When Bazaldua pressed for an outside review, Linda McMahon, CEO of the Economic Development Corp., which oversaw the condition report, said the council could order a new one.
“If you desire another third party, that is totally up to you,” she said.
Real estate developer Shawn Todd who has called for moving City Hall speaks at the Dallas City Council meeting Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Evening: The debate ramps up
Council member Paul Ridley proposed delaying the resolution around 9:05 p.m. to allow outside experts with no vested interest in whether City Hall was saved or scrapped to produce a master plan review by Aug. 31.
He worried that without another set of estimates for repairing City Hall, the council would effectively be forced to approve a move out of the building.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gay Donnell Willis opposed a delay, saying the city needed to maintain momentum “due to the market” and that more information could still be gathered.
Ridley’s motion died 6-9. A modified version also failed later.
At 9:19 p.m., during a brief lull, council member Gay Donnell Willis, appearing virtually, could be heard asking, “Is it almost over?”
From the chamber, council member Paula Blackmon replied: “No.”
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Late evening: The tempers rise
By late evening, fatigue was showing, voices were strained. Council members traded sharp exchanges as amendments piled up.
Around 11:30 p.m., Blackmon questioned whether city staff changed the resolution’s language to avoid a rule requiring a three-quarters vote, or at least 10 council members, to reopen or build a new facility.
Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Bazaldua said he believed talks with the city attorney lowered the threshold to a simple majority of eight votes.
City Attorney Tammy Palomino disputed that, saying she had consulted the city’s chief financial officer about the rule.
Bazaldua cut in and pressed ahead with more questions.
“Hold on one second, I’m really trying to maintain some civility here,” the mayor said, stepping in. He wanted to let Palomino respond.
“She’s a licensed professional,” the mayor said. “She’s entitled to say her piece.”
Dallas City Attorney Tammy Palomino.
Steve Hamm / Special Contributor
In total, the council voted 12 times on changes to the proposed directive before landing on a final version calling for more study. Several of the nine backing that previously have indicated they support relocation options.
After midnight: The decision at last
By 12:54 a.m., the chamber once thick with residents had thinned. Bazaldua, one of the six opponents, held up a drawing from a 4-year-old artist: “Dear Baz, don’t destroy City Hall.” The boy’s parents worked in the building, the council member said.
Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno, whose district includes downtown, said opening the City Hall site for development offered a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to spur growth in southern Dallas and strengthen the city’s core.
“When downtown thrives, the whole city thrives,” he said.
Blackmon said the process felt rushed.
“If this conversation is truly about the Mavericks, let’s have it publicly and honestly,” she said, referring to speculation the NBA team is eyeing the prime spot for a new arena and entertainment district.
Sarah Crain, executive director of Preservation Dallas, speaks in favor of keeping City Hall during a council meeting on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Council member Cara Mendelsohn said the Mavs would be “haunted” if an arena replaced City Hall. There is no public demand to abandon City Hall, she said, only “a top-down push by a small circle of powerful interests.”
She and council member Bill Roth suggested the Mavericks move to the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas. But council member Maxie Johnson said revitalizing downtown gives southern Dallas a better chance to share in any economic development.
After the long debate ended, Mayor Johnson said the council had lost its focus.
He called the meeting “a very, very counterproductive conversation,” saying it had drifted into distractions and personal attacks rather than the question of gathering information.
Whether intentional or not, he said criticism of city employees and consultants crossed a line and was unnecessary to advance policy goals. He questioned whether more analysis would change anyone’s position.
“My recommendation is that we go through the process, but I’m not sure that it matters at this point,” he said. “We’ll have our vote. But I think today was not a good day.”
City Hall split
The Dallas City Council voted 9-6 to direct the city manager to study relocating key operations from City Hall and redeveloping the downtown site while also preparing plans to stay and repair the building.
What the council action requires:
Study moving 911, 311 and emergency operations out of City Hall.Develop two funding strategies: repairing the building or relocating city operations.Create phased repair plans for critical maintenance over 10 years.Identify lease or purchase options for new government center locations.Bar consultants involved in the initial building assessment from bidding on related future work.