Sam Sanders has now been Charlottesville City Manager for 26 months and the recent departure of one of his deputies has led to a restructuring of his administration.
“The purpose being to ensure all items we are responsible for are in the capable hands of a specific member of the team, so progress occurs, and delivery is possible,” Sanders wrote to all city employees in a memo dated September 25 and obtained by Town Crier Productions.
Sanders said there is a long list of items he wants the city government to accomplish.
“We have also been unable to give our full attention to important things to move them as far as we would have liked,” Sanders wrote. “Therefore, change is needed.”
Sanders’ original configuration was to have three deputy city managers and this system was fully staffed until this spring when Eden Ratliff departed as deputy for administration. Ratliff took a job as manager of Middletown Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Under the new system, James Freas will be the only deputy. Freas began work in Charlottesville as director of Neighborhood Development Services in September 2021 and was elevated to deputy city manager for operations in March 2024.
“James Freas will work to consolidate strategy-setting and decision-making authority for clarity and consistency with the City Manager,” Sanders wrote. “The Deputy will act in the absence of the City Manager.”
Former Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers hired Ashley Marshall in the spring of 2021 as the Deputy City Manager for Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Her new title is “Chief Prosperity Officer.”
“This role focuses on the priorities set by the City Manager in what is referred to as ‘the Laboratory’– a place where we dream, imagine, try, test, assess, evaluate, discard, change, and pivot,” reads the memo. “Ashley will continue to collaborate with [Police Civilian Oversight Board], Human Rights, [Americans with Disabilities Act], and Home to Hope, and she will directly engage a body of initiatives focused on health and wellness, access and opportunity, and culture and history.”
Three new positions will be created and two more people will be hired to fill an older position that will come back into use. One of the new positions is a Chief Strategy Officer who will be charged with tracking performance management throughout city government.
“This role will support the facilitation, tracking, and reporting of the citywide strategic plan; the production of a dashboard to collect, synthesize, analyze, and report on performance across the City,” Sanders said.
Another is a temporary grant-funded “Economic Mobility Manager.”
Another new position is “Assistant to the City Manager” and will assist Sanders in his work.
“Think of it as a project manager for me and one who works with me and independent of me on specific things,” Sanders wrote, adding that he has made an offer for someone for this position.
The restored position is “Assistant to the City Manager” and two people will serve in this role as “collaborative strategists with senior leadership to support the delivery of results outlined in work plans and envisioned by Council’s Strategic Plan.”
The exact workload for those two positions will be decided based on applicants for the jobs. None of the positions are listed on Charlottesville page on governmentjobs.com but there are several other vacancies.
- Deputy City Attorney for Land Use and Transaction law (position closed on October 1, 2025)
- Assistant City Engineer
- Construction Plan Reviewer
- Aquatics Operation Manager
Sanders said the reorganization does not require any additional funding and is budget neutral. The new structure went into effect on October 1.
Before you go: The time to write and conduct research for this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the October 1, 2025 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
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