Lone finalist for Richmond chief administrator returning to town
Byron C. Marshall, the lone finalist to be chief administrative officer of Richmond, is coming back to town.
Marshall, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Austin Revitalization Authority in Texas, is scheduled to be here this weekend for additional private meetings with City Council members, Tammy D. Hawley, press secretary to Mayor Dwight C. Jones, confirmed today.
The council meets on Monday. Under the city charter, the chief administrative officer is appointed by the mayor but also must be approved by the council. The CAO makes all other personnel decisions and runs the city day-to-day.
Hawley said it's "not definitive as of yet" whether Jones might appoint Marshall and ask the council to bypass its procedures and conduct a vote Monday night.
"The only thing that's safe to say is he's coming to town for some additional interactions with council," she said.
In the past, the council has voted on such appointments after discussing them in committee and providing advance notice to the public. At least one councilman, Bruce W. Tyler, is urging the council to move cautiously if Marshall is appointed.
Marshall has led the Austin Revitalization Authority since 1999. He's also held top administrative posts for the cities of Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Washington, and Ann Arbor, Mich.
He has not answered questions from reporters about his possible appointment and experience.
The city of Austin is conducting a performance audit that could determine whether it continues to work with Marshall's group. News coverage of him in other cities also raised questions about representations he's made about his degree from Syracuse University, as well as consulting work that he did in Austin while employed as chief operating officer of Atlanta.
Council President Kathy C. Graziano said she's not sure how council would respond if Jones appoints Marshall and requests an expedited vote Monday. She said the upcoming meetings will give council members their first opportunity to ask Marshall about issues raised by the media since his visit earlier this month.
"At some point, there are going to have to be public questions asked by council in a public forum," she added.
Hawley said she did not know Marshall's travel schedule but said he could be arriving today.
-- Will Jones
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Reader Reactions
The bottom line is that the Supreme Court really needs to junk the Voting Rights Act and then the citizens need to move to at large elections or at least a combination of bigger districts along with a few at large council members.
We are traveling all the way back to the days where race was everything in Richmond, and that inevitably will hold this city back.
Marshall may be talented, but let’s face it, there is no way he gets hired into that position except for a very heavy race conscious directive. Lying about your education, holding two jobs at once, doing nothing for 10 years as a “development” director is really suspect.
Jones is probably breaking kneecaps on Council to get his patronage guys on the public dole. Council is all we have to protect the public.
Any council person who gives in needs to be gone next time around, period. Good grief.
Harry Black at $12k a month? The guy who evicted the school board and blew a cool mill just on that? Good grief.
Richmond needs a long period of just good business decisions and not all of this handout stuff.
Oh well.
If there is public knowledge of a questionable degree (gee, haven’t we seen so MUCH of that lately) why not address it NOW and clear it up before putting yet one more person in a job he is unqualified to hold.
The only reason officials give degrees to their friends is because of their concern they cannot rightfully earn them on their own. Either that, or when it comes to police, they have something over them.
Sounds like my last prediction that I referenced to but refused to elaborate on in this forum is likely true as well.
There are too many “red flags” in Bryon Marshall’s background!!! He should not be appointed or confirmed unless and until due diligence produces verifiable a satisfactory answers to the myriad questions about his present and past performance and education.
The currently acting CAO is well known and respected, he is a much better qualified alternative even though he is not a minority candidate - and the outstanding quality of his service to Richmond is known and well documented!!
The dude sounds sketchy to me… City Council will approve him then.
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