Under new management
Charlottesville announced that Marc Woolley will become the city’s next interim city manager. Woolley has spent the last four years as the business administrator of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“Right now there are certain acute issues that need to be taken care of, namely the budget and the comprehensive plan,” Woolley said at a virtual introductory press conference on Friday. “My role is to sit down with council and stakeholders and plot a course forward for the short term.”
The last city manager, Chip Boyles, resigned in October amid community outcry over his decision to relieve police chief RaShall Brackney of her duties.
“I’m not here to upset the apple cart, unless it’s called for, but I don’t see that as my main charge,” Woolley said.
In Harrisburg, Woolley said he helped get the city’s finances back on track. Harrisburg is Pennsylvania’s capital, a majority Black city with a population of 50,000 and a metro area population of 590,000. Before that, he worked at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Delaware River Port Authority, and the Hershey Trust Company.
Woolley will become the sixth person to serve as city manager since 2018. On Friday he said the high turnover doesn’t phase him, and that he’s accustomed to “high-stress environments.”
“I’ve been doing this for many, many years, and I’ve been in almost any type of situation.” Woolley said. “Virginia does not have the monopoly on complicated or arcane versions of government. Pennsylvania is right up there.”
The 52-year-old says he helps cope with the stress by spending time with his wife and kids, training German shepherds, and making cheese.
He’s left multiple previous posts under contentious circumstances. Woolley was named in multiple lawsuits against the Philadelphia Housing Authority, though was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing. And he clashed with the board of directors at the Hershey Trust Company, resigning after the leak of a memo he wrote describing dysfunction within the organization.
That apparently didn’t bother the Charlottesville City Council too much—Councilor Lloyd Snook encouraged those on the call to read past “the first page of Google” when looking at Woolley’s background.
Woolley was a finalist in council’s search for a deputy city manager for operations job, a position they ultimately went to Sam Sanders in July 2021. Council had previously indicated that it intended to give the community an opportunity for input on the interim city manager hire. Mayor Nikuyah Walker said she still believes that’s the best approach, but “this particular time presented us with some unfortunate circumstances” that made such a process difficult.
The city plans to conduct a search for the permanent city manager in April 2022, and Woolley says he intends to apply for that position. In the meantime, he’ll make $205,000 per year, and will begin on December 1.
Parcel credit
For months, area residents have reported going weeks without receiving mail, largely due to staffing shortages and poor management at the Charlottesville Post Office. Last week, Virginia Senator Mark Warner met with USPS management to discuss recent improvements.
“I think we got their attention,” said Warner during a press conference on the Downtown Mall last Thursday. “From the back office of operation, it looked much more organized, much cleaner, much different from before.”
Since Warner’s last visit on August 15, 22 new employees—four clerks, eight city carriers, and 10 rural carriers—have been hired. Twenty applicants are currently waiting to pass background checks. The office has also recently brought in a new acting postmaster and two additional senior officials.
To handle the holiday surge, the office has recruited 11 retirees and 21 postal employees from around the state.
During a “mail surge” in October, management brought in around 45 additional mail carriers, who helped deliver around 90 percent of backlogged mail. It’s since seen a 90 percent decline in complaints about mail delivery at the post office window.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Warner. “It felt like walking around the facility, there was a different attitude, but the proof is going to be in the reaction. I need to hear [from] the community if this is not taking place.”
In brief
Local kids get vaxed
Children ages 5 to 11 are now eligible for COVID vaccination, and there are plenty of opportunities for families in the Charlottesville area to have their kids inoculated. The Blue Ridge Health District is offering vaccines for children by appointment at its Seminole Square space. Both city and county schools are planning to hold drive-through vaccination clinics on their campuses, and some pediatricians’ offices have begun vaccination events, starting with high-risk patients.
Pulling out all the stops
In a bizarre election footnote, Glenn Youngkin’s 17-year-old son attempted to vote for his father in last week’s election, even though the minimum age for voting in Virginia is 18. The poll workers at the Great Falls Library turned the boy away, reports The Washington Post. He “honestly misunderstood Virginia election law and simply asked polling officials if he was eligible to vote,” responded the Youngkin campaign. “Election integrity” was a major plank in Youngkin’s campaign platform.
Brackney’s back
In a downtown press conference on Tuesday, former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney revealed that she has filed formal complaints with CPD’s human resources department, the local Office of Human Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the NAACP, concerning her firing in September. She says city leadership defamed, harassed, and discriminated against her for her efforts to dismantle systemic racism within the department. She is demanding $3 million from the city. If the city does not respond to the complaints soon, Brackney and her attorney say they will take her case to federal court.