Sanders announces hiring of three new members of his administration

Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders announced a restructuring of his administration in late September which included the designation of James Freas the only deputy city manager.

Sanders created several positions including two assistant city manager positions, a chief strategy officer, an economic mobility manager, and an “assistant to the city manager.”

“These are the new members to the reorganized city manager’s office, which is meant to bring capacity and a committed focus to quality and consistency,” Sanders said.

On December 15, Sanders said he has hired both assistant city manager positions.

• Evan Pilachowski will relocate to Charlottesville from Florida, to become one of the assistant city managers. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has held a series of positions in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York City before he took a job in October 2022 as utilities director in Manatee County in the Sarasota metropolitan area. He became Deputy County Administrator in October 2023 before leaving the position in June 2025. Pilachowski will begin work on January 5.
• Sam Roman will join the city on February 2 as the other assistant city manager. Roman served as the police chief in Roanoke before being named as that city’s assistant city manager in July 2023. The city’s website currently lists him as one of two deputy city managers.
• Abigail Wade has been hired as the economic mobility manager and she begins on January 5. She is currently an associate at the Karsh Institute of Democracy. No relation to Charlottesville Mayor Juandiego Wade.

In October, Sanders named Steve King to the role of “assistant to the city manager” as I reported at the time.

As part of the reshuffle, former deputy city manager Ashley Marshall was moved to a new position of “Chief Prosperity Officer.”

For all open positions in Charlottesville, take a look at these job listings.

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