A longer look and listen: Charlottesville City Council hires regional administrator as next city manager
It’s not every day that City Council hires a city manager, but the occasion has become slightly less rare in recent years. As 2021 began, Council spent more than a dozen hours in closed session to discuss personnel issues related to the hiring of a City Manager. Charlottesville has had the Council-Manager form of government in place for nearly a hundred years but in recent years the form has been tested.
Maurice Jones, a former city communications director, held the position for eight years until Council opted not to extend his contract in 2018. Deputy City Manager Mike Murphy stepped into the role on an interim basis before Dr. Tarron Richardson was hired in May 2019. Three new Councilors took office in 2020, and Richardson resigned in September. City Attorney John Blair stepped into the role on an interim basis and a search firm had begun work, but news came out earlier this year they had with drawn from the process.
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