Texan is finalist for top job

Byron C. Marshall, president and chief executive officer of the Austin Revitalization Authority in Texas, is a finalist for Richmond's top administrative post.

City Council President Kathy C. Graziano confirmed yesterday that she met with Mar shall as a candidate for chief administrative officer during a meeting Monday with Mayor Dwight C. Jones.

"The mayor has said all along that he would introduce candidates to City Council before making his selection," she said.

Graziano said she has not been introduced to other candidates, and it was unclear whether other finalists would follow Marshall.

"We have not hired a CAO," said Tammy D. Hawley, Jones' press secretary. "Yes, we are moving through the process. The mayor feels he's very close to a selection. He's not ready to identify any names that are rising through this process."

Under the city charter, the mayor appoints the chief administrative officer "subject to the advice and consent" of the council.

Marshall was not at his office and could not be reached. He has 25 years of experience in public administration and has held executive positions with the cities of Austin, Texas; Houston; Atlanta; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Washington, according to his biography with the Austin Revitalization Authority, which he has led since 1999.

Marshall worked as chief operating officer of Atlanta from 1994 to 1997 and helped prepare the city to host the Summer Olympics in 1996, according to his biography.

He resigned after it was revealed that he held a $96,000 consulting contract with an economic-development authority in Austin, according to a 1997 article by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The article also said Marshall had not earned a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University as he had claimed when he applied for the Atlanta job. Marshall told the

newspaper that he had transferred two graduate courses to satisfy his undergraduate requirements.

Syracuse's registrar's office confirmed yesterday that a bachelor's degree in history was awarded to Byron C. Marshall in 1997, but details were unavailable.

Marshall's biography says only that he attended undergraduate and graduate school at Syracuse's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Richmond had been advertising for a chief administrative officer since before Jones took office in January. The position offers a salary range of $124,500 to $210,091.

In its initial ad, the city required a master's in public or business administration, planning or a related field, plus at least 10 years of urban municipal experience as an executive.

However, the ad was revised yesterday to require only a bachelor's in public or business administration or a related field.

The master's requirement was droppedafter Jones interviewed several candidates and decided that experience was preferable to an advanced degree, said Suzette P. Denslow, the mayor's chief of staff.

Director of Public Utilities Christopher L. Beschler has been the city's acting chief administrative officer since Sheila Hill-Christian resigned last summer.

Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell praised Beschler's performance but said it's the mayor's prerogative to appoint the chief administrative officer. She sounded hopeful after meeting Marshall.

"He talked about neighborhoods, and he talked about cleaning up blight -- things that mean a lot for the 8th District," she said.

Other council members acknowledged meeting with the mayor and a job candidate but declined to elaborate, citing Jones' re quest that details be kept private.

"I'm just going to wait for the mayor to make his next move," Councilman Bruce W. Tyler said.