<\/p>\n
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and Mayor Eric Johnson pose for a photo at Dallas City Hall in Dallas, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Mayor Eric Johnson says Morgan Stanley\u2019s planned regional hub<\/a> in Dallas effectively makes up for the loss of AT&T’s headquarters\u00a0to Plano in 2028, rejecting concerns that a string of high-profile corporate departures signals the city is losing economic ground.<\/p>\n \u201cOne Morgan Stanley building is a wash for what AT&T is building in Plano,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThis is real money, and these are very sophisticated people we’re talking about. So I think the scoreboard is all we need to point to.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson made the comments during a rare joint interview with City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, with the two presenting a united front on Dallas\u2019 economy, the recently adopted budget and their working relationship as Johnson enters his final year as mayor.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n About 6,000 people work downtown at AT&T\u2019s current corporate headquarters. Morgan Stanley plans to bring more than 3,800 workers to its Dallas regional headquarters by 2035.<\/p>\n Johnson and Tolbert say Dallas\u2019 growing tax base, falling crime rates and recent corporate recruitment successes tell a different story from the high-profile losses that have generated questions about the city\u2019s direction. <\/p>\n They also defended their approach to the city budget, while Johnson declined to take a position on a push to give his successor greater power over the city manager and budget.<\/p>\n Their appearance together\u00a0underscored a markedly different relationship from Johnson\u2019s turbulent years<\/a> with former City Manager T.C. Broadnax, who left in 2024 to become Austin’s city manager<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson and Tolbert meet frequently, travel together to recruit businesses and are aligned on the city\u2019s priorities, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tolbert said she operates as the \u201cback office\u201d while the mayor leads the front.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cSitting down here together is evidence of just how well I think we work together and how committed we are to doing our job,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n The city manager referred to Johnson as a \u201cseasoned policy enthusiast,\u201d which she said played a part in marketing the city and bringing Morgan Stanley, Scotiabank and Goldman Sachs to Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n On stronger mayor<\/p>\n Their partnership is playing out as three former Dallas mayors push to fundamentally change the balance of power between the mayor and city manager.<\/p>\n Ron Kirk, Tom\u00a0Leppert and Mike Rawlings are pushing for a vote on the May ballot to give the next mayor the power to hire the city manager and city attorney and set the budget. The city manager currently\u00a0determines where the money goes, and where it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Under Dallas\u2019 council-manager system, the mayor presides over the 15-member City Council but has one vote and cannot unilaterally hire or fire the city manager.<\/p>\n Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and Mayor Eric Johnson speak to the Dallas Morning News at Dallas City Hall in Dallas, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Johnson declined to comment on the\u00a0stronger mayor movement<\/a> without seeing a formal ballot proposal. But he said he\u2019s focused on working under the current system in tandem with the city manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n That commitment came into play during budget discussions when Johnson sided with Tolbert\u2019s plan and didn\u2019t offer a single budget amendment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Council member Cara Mendelsohn said she had \u201cnot once\u201d met with the mayor this year while debating the city\u2019s $6 billion budget. She told him \u201cto set a meeting individually with every single council member.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But the mayor said council members were \u201cpolicymaking on the fly\u201d and said they were trying to \u201csubstitute their judgment\u201d with for the city manager\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tolbert said the council went \u201cinto the weeds\u201d and used one-time money without solving longer-term problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n She wants the City Council to say, \u201cThis is where we’re headed. This is where we’re going.\u201d But instead, the council gives a variety of disparate directions with the hope that \u201cthe city manager will go and figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n \nGrowth push amid City Hall tensions\u00a0\n<\/p>\n The new turn in leadership comes as their pursuit\u00a0of economic growth has received scrutiny and suspicion, especially concerning the fate of the I.M. Pei-designed City Hall building.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Some City Council member criticized Tolbert\u00a0for potentially overstepping her role when Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts said she had\u00a0offered up the downtown real estate<\/a> for a potential basketball arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s still unclear if that was before Johnson directed council members to assess the building\u2019s shelf life.<\/p>\n Some council members and business leaders also have said they have struggled at times to reach\u00a0Johnson or get meetings with him<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Council members have publicly sparred with him, saying he\u2019s not meeting with the people he\u2019s supposed to steer to get the work done.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a>
<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n