Tag: Marc Woolley

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New face

PC: City of Charlottesville

In November, newly appointed Charlottesville City Manager Marc Woolley quit the job—the day before he was supposed to start work. It was the low point in a three-year period that had seen five people, not counting Woolley, serve as the city government’s lead executive. In response, City Council addressed the desperate situation by hiring a management firm until it finds a permanent city manager. 

This month, Charlottesville signed a contract with the Robert Bobb Group, which has decades of experience serving local and state governments across the country. Last week, council interviewed three potential candidates—all members of the Robert Bobb Group—to be the interim city manager.

After meeting for over an hour in closed session, councilors officially appointed Michael Rogers during Tuesday’s meeting.

“I look forward to engaging with the staff and becoming a part of the team and leading the team so that the citizens of Charlottesville are proud every day at the level of service that their government provides,” said Rogers. “A government that will listen, is open and transparent, that’s my style. That’s what I look for.”

Rogers has previously served as Washington, D.C.’s city administrator, and executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, as well as chief operating and financial officer of Petersburg, Virginia. He has also held senior positions in the New York City government, and with the Minority Business Development Agency. 

Following his appointment, Rogers said he looked forward to “hitting the ground running” and working with council to address a plethora of issues facing Charlottesville. He also shared his connection to the area—early in his career, he met Cole Hendrix, who served as Charlottesville’s city manager from 1971 and 1996. 

“I can still remember the excitement and joy in [Hendrix’s] voice when he talked about his city of Charlottesville,” said Rogers. “So that impression of that city has always stuck with me.”

Mayor Lloyd Snook said he was drawn to the new manager’s passion for mentorship. 

“One of the things that I remember particularly about [Rogers’] interview is that [he] enjoyed mentoring and teaching younger, deputy city managers, people who are middle managers in city government,” said the mayor. “That’s something we really need.”

“Investment in staff development and building cohesive teams has been a staple of my career,” replied Rogers. “That’s how you build succession planning.”

Vice-Mayor Juandiego Wade said he was impressed by Rogers’ previous accomplishments, especially in regard to finances. In 2016 and 2017, the Robert Bobb Group helped the City of Petersburg climb out of millions of dollars in debt. 

“We’re going to need to be able to hit the ground running with the budget process,” said Wade.

Councilor Michael Payne expressed his appreciation for Rogers’ commitment to diversity and inclusion. 

“How do we ensure that there’s real diversity in class and race in the rooms that we’re in, and incorporating that into every decision we’re making—I’m just really excited to have that approach, along with your breadth of local experience,” said Payne. 

Rogers’ contract will last for six months, unless Charlottesville hires a permanent city manager within that time period. In the meantime, the Robert Bobb Group will help address other urgent needs, including creating the fiscal year 2023 budget.

Councilors will continue to work with the group to find a permanent city manager and police chief. They hope to hire a new person to lead the city by June.

Rogers will take office on January 31. 

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In brief: UVA hires new football coach, county split

Tony Elliott. Photo: Virginia Football

Lining it up

New congressional map would split Albemarle County

Virginia’s 2021 redistricting cycle is nearing a close. Last week, the state Supreme Court-appointed map drawers released drafts of the Virginia Congressional, State Senate, and House of Delegate districts that could go into effect next year.

In the past, the party in control of the state legislature has had the power to draw its own district maps. This time around, after a newly formed bipartisan redistricting commission couldn’t come close to agreeing on the best way forward, each party nominated one special map drawer, and the two collaborated to put the maps together. Public hearings will be held to discuss the maps on December 15 and 17, and the Supreme Court hopes to sign off on a final draft by the 19th.

In the most recent proposed redistricting maps, Charlottesville and southern Albemarle would be in Virginia’s 5th district, currently represented by Republican Bob Good. Northern Albemarle would be part of an entirely reshaped district 10. Photos: Supreme Court of Virginia

The Virginia Public Access Project analyzed each of the proposed maps based on recent statewide election results. VPAP says Virginia’s 11 current congressional districts have five seats that are strongly Democratic or lean Democratic, five seats that are strongly Republican or lean Republican, and one toss-up—the new maps would shift lines around but maintain that split.

In the Senate, VPAP says Dems currently have the advantage in 21 districts, Republicans have the advantage in 17, and two districts are toss-ups. The proposed map would result in Democrats netting one new strong D seat, at the expense of a toss-up. In the House, VPAP projects a 47 Dem, 12-toss-up, 41-GOP split to shift to 49-10-41 in favor of the Democrats. (Remember, these are just projections: In last month’s election, Republicans took 52 House seats to Democrats’ 48.)

The map creators, UC-Irvine political scientist Bernard Grofman and RealClearPolitics election analyst Sean Trende, emphasized their efforts at neutrality in a memo accompanying the maps. “Our duty is owed not to the parties that nominated us, but rather to the Court that appointed us and to the residents of the Commonwealth that it serves,” they wrote.

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, a nonprofit redistricting analysis group, graded the maps based on a variety of key redistricting criteria. The Congressional and House maps received As, indicating that the maps’ partisan breakdown fairly reflected the breakdown of the state, and the Senate map received a B.

Locally, the map contains one major quirk: Albemarle County is one of the few counties in the state split right down the middle. If the new maps are approved, Albemarle residents who live north of Greenbrier will live at the southern edge of a district that stretches north towards Northern Virginia, while those who live in the city of Charlottesville and the southern half of the county will share representation with southern central Virginia, all the way down to the North Carolina border.

UVA alum and attorney Sam Shirazi attempted to rationalize the split on Twitter: “Raising Cane’s is in the 5th because it is more culturally aligned with Southside,” he wrote. “Across the street, Trader Joes and Sephora are in the 10th [because they’re] more suburban like Loudoun…I’m being facetious, [the] split is absurd.”

In brief

Pulled the Woolley over our eyes

Charlottesville’s almost-city manager Marc Woolley spoke with Bloomberg Law last week about why he quit job the day before he was supposed to start. Woolley cited family reasons when he announced that he was pulling out of the role earlier this month, but sang a different tune last week. ‘“There’s just no way that an interim person can work underneath that craziness,” he told Bloomberg Law. “My eyeballs were always going to be looking over the fence.”

Off to a hot start

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin has announced that he plans to pull Virginia out of a 10-state regional greenhouse gas alliance. Dominion Energy says the move will save an average energy customer $52 a year. A joint statement from Democratic leaders in the legislature puts a different spin on the proposal: “We only have one world—with Hampton Roads perpetually flooded, the Chesapeake Bay’s future at risk, and Virginians’ health declining, there is no time left to play politics with Mother Nature,” they wrote.

UVA football begins new chapter

After the shock resignation of head coach Bronco Mendenhall, who led the Cavaliers for six seasons, UVA football has found its new top man in Tony Elliott, the former offensive coordinator at Clemson University. Elliott comes with a winning pedigree, having won the national championship in 2016 and 2018 with the Tigers. “I’m so excited, the time is finally here,” Elliott said in a video from the plane to Charlottesville. Here’s hoping he’s half as good as the other Coach Tony in town.

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In brief: City under new management

Marc Woolley, Charlottesville’s new interim city manager, is the sixth person to hold that job since 2018. Photo: City of Charlottesville

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.

Senator Warner works to address post office issues before holiday surge. Staff photo.

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.