Sanders: Charlottesville’s administration is fully in place 

Note: If you’re seeing this via email, this is a back-dated post with source material from the February 5, 2024 meeting of City Council. I’m still trying to work out the exact order for how items get posted to the archive site Information Charlottesville. Since this story, Lionel Lyons announced he would not be coming back to work.

Charlottesville City Council’s meeting on February 5, 2024 was so packed with information that I’m still going through it to make sure I captured all of the action. I’ve already written about Council’s second reading of a $4.181 million purchase of property owned by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which you can take a look at here.

Future editions of the newsletter will have more from the meeting, but for now City Manager Sam Sanders had a lot to say during his regular update to City Council and the public. He was particularly pleased to report that two new top officials have taken their station in City Hall. 

“For me this is an exciting time because it’s the first time that our full executive leadership team has been filled at the same time,” Sanders said. 

Eden Ratliff is the Deputy City Manager for Administration and Lionel Lyons is the Deputy City Manager for Operations. 

• Ratliff will oversee human resources, finance, information technology and the budget.
• Lyons will oversee Neighborhood Development Services, Public Works, transit, and utilities. 
• Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall will oversee Human Services, Social Services, the Office of Human Rights, Parks and Recreation, the Police Civilian Oversight Board, the Office of Sustainability, and the Office of Social Equity. 

Sanders presented the second quarter update on his work plan, a document he said he would track his performance since becoming City Manager last August. He said he is pressing city staff on the importance of service and impact. (view the second quarter update)

“The team hears me say it often in many of my message to them focusing on quality service and how we can impact lives daily because I believe that to my core,” Sanders said. “I came into government because I want to fix government. I don’t know if everybody knows that about me but I’ve been very critical at times in my past and my goal here is to influence it to do things I know it can do.”  

Sanders listed three areas of collaboration between multiple departments to deliver new services, such as an alternative response public safety team equipped with people capable of doing mental health interventions.  

“We’ve been looking at opioid abatement and spending money in that space,” Sanders said. “We’ve also been looking at violence reduction and a pre-arrest diversion program so those are things you can expect to hear from us.” 

The presentation also included a calendar of work sessions for the rest of the year, including topic areas for what are known as 2 x 2 x 1 meetings. This is where Sanders and other officials can brief Councilors two at a time to evade the need to hold a noticed meeting. 

A stand-alone work session to follow up on alternative fuel sources for Charlottesville Area Transit is planned for February 27. In January, Council was briefed on a recommendation to purchase two battery-electric vehicle buses for a pilot as well as to plan to purchase a hydrogen vehicle in 2027. 

“It’ll be a discussion on what Council has heard since you were able to hear from Kimley-Horn in their presentation to you last month and just to be able to provide any additional context that may have come in through the responses,” Sanders said. “And to really frame up what is the decision point.”

Sanders said there are no federal or state mandates related to the fuel type, but the city does have its own greenhouse gas reduction goals. 

On Thursday, the Biden administration announced there would be $1.5 billion available through the Federal Transit Administration for low-emission and no-emission buses. (read the press release)

Sanders also said a decarbonization study that has been underway is now on pause due to a number of critiques and concerns raised by advocacy groups. Council had a briefing on October 16 and the minutes indicate that individuals associated with the Community Climate Collaborative spoke but does not indicate their specific objections. 

“The decarbonization work has been challenging at best,” Sanders said. “I think you would all join me in acknowledging that for some of the questions and concerns as to where we are.” 

Sanders also apologized to the public for audio visual issues that made it hard to follow Councils’ retreat on January 26. To make up for it, he wrote up a nine-page summary of the event for people to read. Some takeaways:

• Council will no longer participate in joint public hearings with the Planning Commission  and these will instead be scheduled for actual Council meetings. 
• The city’s financial advisor, Public Financial Management, is recommending a conservative approach to budgeting for FY25.
• Employee wages make up 33 percent of the city’s general fund expenditures, and the amount subject to collective bargaining is about a third of that. Ratings agencies are monitoring negotiations across the Commonwealth due to the potential of uncertainty through labor disruptions. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the February 13, 2024 edition of the newsletter and podcast. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.