“We have to empower someone to be a true city manager.”
Amen to that.
Charlottesville Vice Mayor Sena Magill uttered those words as she and her colleagues announced the hiring of Chip Boyles as the new city manager.
The new city manager — pro tem.
In an unusual move, the council hired Boyles — an experienced public servant — to act as a true city manager, but not a permanent one. The decision also was made without the open-interview process that council in the past has favored.
The city presently is operating under an interim city manager. John Blair, previously the city attorney, has done good work against tough odds, as far as we can tell. But now he is joining the score and more of top city officials who have fled to other jobs: He is taking a position in nearby Staunton.
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The top job has been in flux since 2017, causing the city manager’s contract not to be renewed in 2018 amid dissatisfaction over his office’s handling of the Unite the Right violence. Since then the job has been held by an interim city manager; by a city manager who left after only 14 months; and by another interim.
A consulting firm hired to assist with permanently filling the manager’s seat recently warned that city government lacked the stability necessary even to mount a successful search effort.
Shortly afterward, City Council suspended that effort — but Blair’s pending departure necessitated some sort of action.
Boyles’s hire was announced last week as “a true city manager” — although one who might not be on the job for long. His tenure is seen as potentially extending into next year, following City Council elections that could provide new leadership as of January 2022. He will start his new job in mid-February of this year.
Boyles’ apparent role will be as a sort of emergency fixer, tasked with stabilizing the organization so that a resumed search can be launched later.
Mayor Nikuyah Walker said more information on the search process will be provided at tonight’s council meeting. Boyles would be welcome to apply again, Magill said.
In some ways, City Council and the city manager search seem locked into a kind of Catch-22. The consultant said the city needed more stability before it could even conduct a useful search. We believe a new city manager is needed in order to help Charlottesville achieve that stability — and the person in charge should have the full authority of the position.
A wildcard, however, is the influence of City Council itself. Some critics suggest that members of council are the source of the instability. Two seats are up for election this fall; Walker has said she will run again, while Councilor Heather Hill has not made her intentions known.
But with Blair leaving, Charlottesville can’t wait for a city manager until potentially new councilors take their seats in 2022.
At the same time, the short time frame offered to Boyles poses a real challenge for attempting to repair years’ worth of damage to city functions and trust among its leaders and citizens.
Boyles has extensive experience in leadership, so he brings skills to the job that should be indispensable. He has headed the multijurisdictional Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission since 2014. He also previously served as a city and as a town manager in other states.
His local residency means that he should be well aware of the problems he faces in Charlottesville, and aware of their complicated histories.
But we hope that the pro tempore nature of the current appointment does not create a lame-duck situation that weakens the authority of this “true city manager.”