Dallas Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert will have one more change to make on her new organizational chart. Assistant City Manager Robert Perez is apparently leaving for Topeka, Kansas.
Perez has been chosen as the lone finalist for Topeka’s open city manager’s job, according to a well-placed source at Topeka City Hall with knowledge of the hiring process who did not have permission to speak on the record. An announcement is expected later today. Perez will replace former City Manager Stephen Wade, who was fired over the summer after only 10 months on the job. The city later alleged that he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
Perez was named one of two finalists for Topeka city manager last month. On Tuesday, the city council there met in closed session to discuss the decision, but took no official action. Interim co-communications director Rosie Nichols told the Topeka Capitol-Journal last month that the council would meet with Perez and the other finalist, Alan Howze, in a closed session for follow-up interviews. Nichols said that any announcement would come about two weeks after the council made its pick, to give the city time to negotiate a contract with its choice.