director of parks and recreation

police officer

manager

senior maintenance person

office assistant

City of Dallas

The City of Dallas promotes itself as a great place to work, highlighting its core values, past awards, and emphasizing an amazing work culture in job descriptions. Unfortunately, in my experience, this doesn’t reflect the reality.

I worked in the Transportation department, where I did learn a lot about traffic signals and met a few genuinely good people. However, the positive aspects were heavily overshadowed by a deeply dysfunctional work culture, largely driven by poor leadership. A healthy work environment almost always stems from strong, accountable management — and that’s severely lacking here.

Management in Transportation was, in my experience, disengaged and unapproachable. There was little to no sense of empathy, integrity, or accountability. Employee safety, training, or concerns were not prioritized. Constructive feedback or any form of criticism was generally not welcomed, and in some cases, seemed to lead to subtle forms of retaliation. It often felt like management relied more on influence and internal alliances than actual leadership or listening to employees. These issues seem systemic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other departments face similar challenges.

The City often spends significant funds on investigations and external consultants to assess its internal problems — but rarely acts on the findings. At the same time, budget cuts are common, which further reduces the already limited chances of raises or promotions.

As a result, morale across the department was consistently low. The environment felt heavy with apathy and burnout, creating a widespread sense of demotivation. It was one of the most disengaged and discouraging workplaces I’ve encountered. Long-term employees often seemed disconnected or uninspired, simply doing the minimum needed until retirement. This dynamic discouraged new ideas and stifled motivation. Promotions seemed to go to those who could endure the environment, rather than those who were most effective or innovative.

The workplace culture overall was difficult. There was far more emphasis on metrics and appearances than on genuine improvement or employee wellbeing. If you proposed a new idea or change that could disrupt reporting metrics, it was often dismissed — regardless of potential long-term benefits. Leadership seemed more focused on protecting numbers than improving outcomes.

Work-life balance suffered as a result. The stress and disengagement made it hard to stay positive, and I often found myself questioning why I stayed. The emotional toll of the workplace made it difficult to feel proud or respected for the work I was doing.

As for the position itself, the technical aspect was underwhelming. Despite the title, the work was often repetitive and involved bringing outdated systems up to bare-minimum standards. Dallas is a large city, but the department is understaffed and under-resourced, making it difficult to do the job well. Even if you care about the work, the surrounding environment often makes it hard to stay engaged.

The benefits — such as medical insurance, dental, PTO, sick leave, and job security — are among the few positive elements. However, these are fairly standard at most stable employers, and they don’t make up for the larger issues.

Ultimately, this is a place where you may feel undervalued unless you’re prepared to tolerate a toxic environment. While I understand that many people take jobs out of necessity — especially given the state of the broader job market — I would strongly recommend treating this position as a short-term stepping stone rather than a long-term career. My honest advice: set boundaries, limit your engagement in workplace politics, and prioritize your mental health. Don’t stay longer than necessary.

I found this role to be challenging because there was very little coaching during the probation period, the management assumed that you knew how to do certain tasks, and gave little to no guidelines on how they would like it to be done. 

Communication was VERY poor, my manager would often ask me about things or give me reprimands about things that 1. I had no control over, due to it being something that occurred in a different department or 2. It was a task that was given to me with ZERO instructions, when I competed it I would get very negative or unconstructive feedback so it was difficult to know what to improve upon. I also received negative remarks AFTER she admitted she didn’t explain the process to me or communicate what my expectations or role was. 

I was on a probation period, and there were certain things that I wanted to learn to improve upon my skills, I was told that there was money in the budget for me to attend certain classes or workshops. I sent her a detailed list of workshops with prices to show her that I was dedicated and serious about learning more and nothing more came out of it, but I received marks on my progress reports I got a negative mark, despite the effort I put in to show I was ready and willing to learn. The manager also acknowledged that my role was one that had a lot of tasks that were not mentioned in the job posting and it can be a lot to undertake, she also acknowledged  that she noticed I was taking note of the negative marks and making improvements but they didn’t think I would be ready for more responsibilities & I was let go a little over halfway through my probation period. 


It has always been my understanding that a probation period is a learning and coaching time, I was never coached on anything and was often given tasks with no further explanation or guidelines. They give you things with a deadline to complete it and that’s it, one of the times that I did ask for clarification on something I was given the answer of “ I don’t have time to think about that right now, ask someone else”. 


My advice for anyone taking this role is to ASK for clarification at all times, ask for expectations and guidelines and correct her when she is wrong.  I tried to tiptoe around and tread lightly since I was on probation, and often didn’t say anything when I noticed her mistakes. 

That didn’t get me anywhere! 

So speak up for yourself and if you don’t understand something FIRMLY ask for guidelines and what is expected of you, if you can do it via email so you have proof of the correspondence and can return to it later & ask for clarification on contradictions. That was my saving grace more than once! 

Good luck!!

Hello, 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it helps you in determining if you want to work for the city. I must point out the cons and pros to both sides so well start with pros and move to the negative. 

Pros of the job 
Time builds up fast after 6 months you get a lot of time you can take off. IE sick days or vacation 
You have a job and you don’t have to kill yourself, however the lack of training might. 
You’re not going to be killing yourself here it’s laid back and for the most part easy to get through the day. 
Mostly good guys to work with, but never in a hurry to this done asap. 

Cons warning a fairly longer list, but sad and true on all of the following problems. 

The list if you want to advance no matter if you have a degree or better qualities  if you’re not signed up via the list which on the city website you’re screwed. However, you have to always check the list because you’re not going to be told when a posting is online. 
Also even after signing up the list can be pulled from over a year ago so even though you have signed up you’re still not on the list they might pull from. So it’s just a never ending cycle of BS that they can use to screw you around with. 

Nepotisms is huge in the city and don’t let anyone lie to you and say it’s not. I’ve seen with my own eyes 3 people get hired because Grand paw works here. In no way does it not exist, but this is the real world and of course it does. 

Pay scale is way off and they will post BS like 50k to 70k for the job. However, they will low ball and start you off at the 50K no matter what so if you’re going to get a job make them pay you! Because we don’t always get raises at the end of each year. For example we got a .60 raise this year however, the cost of insurance went up .85 so we lost .15 cents. 

Insurance is horrible here basically it’s either a 70/30 plan or 75/25 plan with either a 3,000 deductible or 2,500 one. It’s  UHC and they will not pay for anything unless it’s generic pills. Retirement is ok, but you basically have to give 5% of your check to it to make it and you have to work for at least 25 years for it to build up they don’t’ match a dime so it’s really just a 401k  

Training is horrible here; you’re basically going by what someone who has worked here has to say. If bubba been here 20 years just go ask him.  No matter what and HR doesn’t care only if you get hurt do they step in.  If you’re in the field it’s up to you get trained in what you’re doing. You never go to school or get certifications just go by what BUBBA said. So that’s your safety training bubba said don’t get killed while playing with 13,200 volts.

At the beginning it was all good, once out of training that’s when real life hits. Most of what we were told were not true for example that we would be permanent after passing training. Second the amount of calls received especially for a bilingual call taker was a lot. To not even get paid for taking the extra calls as told we would in the beginning. We were told we would get back pay for the calls taken in Spanish. But I did not receive that pay plus at the time it was all verbal, I do not know why I believed it. After working around 4months in they finally offered me the Spanish test to get my bilingual pay. And to even get the pay you must score above a certain level, if not you will take calls in Spanish and English but not get the pay because that is what was happening to my other coworkers. There was lots of gossip in the office. We were never told that per every call we would be timed in how long you are off the phone, going against your record leading to many write ups the turn over rate was crazy. You could go to lunch and check out from your phone that you are going to lunch or break or bathroom and if you went right after a call and the timer counted any minutes or seconds it would add it to your time that you are off the phone and the supervisors would keep track of and would write us up after each month. It was hard to move up or get any raises yet they want you to work on multiple calls dealing with water, 311, courts and auto pound. I was very unhappy with the job and I started with over 7 coworkers who were trained with me and all of us were let go by the end of our six months. Other employees that were there a bit longer than we were, told us that this happened a lot. Even our trainers were shocked at certain ways the call center handled us. We were considered temporary employees but would have to pay for benefits. Lots of opportunities were missed out because we were temporary employees. There was a worker that had been there for almost a year and was still a temp.

To begin, my assignment was changed 1 month after my start date (I thought to myself - "Ok not a great start but I will give it a shot.") I should have declined the assignment change immediately. 

Typical day involved receiving requests, reviewing requests and working these requests. "Working" these requests was always an adventure, the resources allocated to our dept were minimal and my requests were always pushed to the backburner. Countless boring meetings later and the issues would still remain. After a while, I noticed no one worked so I followed suit. I caught up on a lot of podcasts, youtube videos, music. Tax dollars at work!!!

Management - oh boy! What can I say? My direct manager would provide no direction, no support and no help at all. Everything that was sent to him was quickly sent over my way (regardless if I was even trained on it) He did send me some of his instructions, but preferred to stay in his office and never be seen. Really was waiting to hit retirement. The lack of support really enraged me. At our team meetings, I would find it VERY DIFFICULT not to lash out at him and tell him how I really felt. Honestly, he had no guts to be a manager. 

I guess this is how it is at the City. Management would be too afraid to fire incompetent workers, even those who NEVER SHOWED UP OR WERE MISSING FROM THEIR DESKS!!! We were given substandard equipment, decades old tech. Problem employees were pushed into other roles to let them become someone else's problem. 

I really enjoyed being with my co-workers (anyone not management). They actually taught me new skills (imagine that) and were very friendly towards me. We all shared the same opinions on how our dept was maintained (poorly). If it weren't for my co-workers, I would have probably quit after 4-5 months. It's always the main workers, those that are in it day in and day out, who know everything. So called leaders then try to hire outside people who have no clue what they are stepping into. 



What is the best part of working at the company?
you are a city employee. part of the Marshal's office/
city of Dallas. Police issued uniforms and trained at the police academy.Myself being a former police officer in Calif. thought it would be outstanding
and was very proud to wear the uniform and that is wear it all stopped and went down hill from there. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The total and I mean total lack of personal concern for the officers. From the first day i got on Board
NOT ONE person said 'welcome a board" The older officers ( every single one) said  "what are you doing here? you need to leave now,this place is never going to change,i'm only hear because i've been here to long and I'm getting close to retiring"
I heard that from all.
they supervise by intimidation.
they literally make no provision for officer to eat lunch while the sgts, Lts and above all carry large lunch coolers to there desks. As a former member of the military and former cop I am no weak kneed 
wimp but I also know what true leadership is and all 
I saw was a collective of supervisors looking at how to move up at any cost.   

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I have never had the occasion to use this word and I have had VERY dangerous, demanding and challenging jobs and NEVER used this term...
"TOTALLY TOXIC " fits too the tee!!!!!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
normal security access control and rotation of posts.

Most of my time with Dallas was enjoyable. I did find that employee satisfaction was highly dependent on the team you lucked into. I don't think the division I was in (AS) was investing enough into their entry level workers. They do, arguably, the roughest job in the building for the least pay and worst hours. As a result, there was some resentment that poisoned the overall work environment. A few employees were shockingly toxic, openly bragging about their bad attitudes and having "chased out" other workers. It seemed that management was aware of their behavior, but it wasn't addressed. These employees ALL received promotions in my time there. 

Upper management felt a little cliquish and, though friendly enough, talking to them sometimes felt like going to a doc appointment where you get lots of nods and smiles and then ushered out feeling like they weren't legitimately listening. There were some decisions made while I was there that genuinely left a bad taste in my mouth. Overall, it's a government job with ok benefits for the region, but ask good questions during your interview. I think management wants to do a good job, but hasn't figured out how to positively impact the work environment for all levels of employees.

That all said, my IMMEDIATE team when I left was amazing. People who cared a lot about the work, were highly skilled, and who were always pleasant and supportive. 

If there's one thing this experience has taught me, it's that you can train skill — but you cannot train character.

While there were talented individuals on the team, the overall environment was marred by a lack of integrity, respect, and emotional intelligence from leadership and peers alike. Toxic behaviors were tolerated (and sometimes rewarded), while those who brought professionalism and a collaborative mindset often found themselves sidelined or undervalued.

The absence of accountability created a culture where personal agendas outweighed team progress, and short-term results were prioritized over long-term growth and morale. It's unfortunate, because with the right leadership and values, this could have been a place of real development and success.

I’ve grown from this experience — but not in the ways I had hoped. If you value psychological safety, mutual respect, and a culture of character, consider looking elsewhere.

A typical day at work would be coming into the cafeteria at our school sitting the kids down first.Secondly,we get them snacks and then help with homework and tutoring.Lastly after 4:00 we engage and different activities each day,just depends on what we put in our lesson plans.The main thing i learned from this job is how much the youth need admirable role models and how much i could be of use to have a positive impact on them from the few hours we interact each day.My Co-Workers are the 2nd best part of this job,few disagreements and everyone is pretty much on the same page.The hardest part of this job would be the fact that we have the paperwork aspect and we have to do it while tending to the children,its not always easy.The most enjoyable part of this job would be the relationships that you will build with the group of kids you are assigned to,the fact that i have been a positive part of someones life and have influenced them to better themselves,always brings a smile to my face.

Great place to work I like the job. a typical day began with a check list for the trucks, then assignments were given, the trucks were loaded, and we went to work.
I learned teamwork is necessary, I learned to delegate authority.
the management was very good we played ping pong with one of the managers.
the coworkers were like family we were a close knit group, they knew their jobs and were able to perform them with little or no supervision.
The hardest part of the job for me was the 24hour on call assignment.
The most enjoyable part of the job was teaching new employees and encouraging them in the work. the department meetings with lunch provided, promotions, and the incentive programs.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Director of parks and recreation 30 salaries reported	$57,408 per year
Police officer 4 salaries reported	$79,507 per year
Manager 5 salaries reported	$85,520 per year
Senior maintenance person 18 salaries reported	$44,623 per year
Office assistant 9 salaries reported	$41,811 per year

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