8 November 20 - 26, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Dallas. Consider all potential options and identify the most fiscally responsible course to address the mounting deferred mainte- nance and carrying costs of Dallas City Hall.” While that write-up doesn’t explicitly mention the word of 2025, “efficiency,” it aligns pretty well with Johnson’s broader push to streamline Dallas’ governance. He created the council’s Government Effi- ciency Committee in August. He pushed (unsuccessfully) for the council to take bold measures to pare down the city’s bur- geoning budget during the September money talks. His seventh State of the City address, also last week, emphasized his dis- dain for “bloat” and “mission creep.” The Finance Committee’s instructions are just another indicator that if there is waste in the way City Hall is running, Johnson isn’t down with it. Across government, technology and busi- ness, there is a growing push to maximize output while minimizing time, effort and money. We are ripping things down to the studs, then asking ourselves what the cheap- est and quickest way to rebuild is, or if re- building is even worth it at all. And if we look at City Hall — a 48-year-old building that was designed to showcase power and promise rather than promote productivity — through no lens other than the scrutinous metric of efficiency, it is going to fail every single time. There is virtually nothing efficient about preservation. There is very little about his- tory, art or literature that meets the input- output criteria of this efficiency era. And that is the disconnect that much of the frustration between the public and the horseshoe on the topic of City Hall seems to be rooted in. While efficiency doesn’t ac- count for romance or nostalgia, the meet- ing showed that for many community members, and some on the council, those are very real factors in the conversation about City Hall’s future. Dallas resident Rawland Gilland de- scribed the building as “hard to love but re- markable,” a symbol that showed him Dallas’ playful side after he’d sworn off the city, having stood two blocks from the as- sassination of President John F. Kennedy. Dallas resident and filmmaker Quinn Mathews said he feels the conversation about City Hall’s future represents “the soul of our city, it’s not just about a build- ing.” Joanna Hampton, a Dallas city plan commissioner, urged the council to con- duct a third-party facility assessment on the building before deciding whether to re- locate. She called the building “the heart of” Dallas that stands as a “beacon.” Council member Paula Blackmon wist- fully recalled walking through the build- ing in the early 2000s while pregnant with her son and working under former-Mayor Tom Leppert. She told the horseshoe that in moments of high stress, she’d sit on the balconies outside of the council offices that overlook downtown and have the feeling that she was living out a dream. Blackmon was one of three council mem- bers who did not vote in support of the di- rective. Since the conversation about City Hall’s future was launched a few weeks ago, some community members have speculated that the potential relocation is the result of a back-door deal with a devel- oper such as the Dallas Mavericks, which is looking to build a new stadium. That conspiracy has only inflamed emotions more, although some council members at- tempted to assure last night’s audience that “there is no decision that has already been made.” Still, come Tolbert’s findings in 2026, the council will be forced to try to bridge height- ened emotions and hard numbers — a task that is easier said than done, especially when the building so many hold in high re- gard also regularly floods and fails. “We’re attached to buildings. We’re at- tached to things. It’s our history. That’s who we are, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said council member Maxie Johnson. “However, the opportunity to grow is im- portant. To make sure that we have a func- tioning building is important.” Lauren Drewes Daniels Dallas’ iconic City Hall could fall to efficiency’s ax. Unfair Park from p6 When news happens, Dallas Observer is there. Your support Your support strengthens our coverage. GIVE TODAY DALLASOBSERVER.COM/ SUPPORT
