Richmond council to vote on GRTC appointments

One of Mayor Dwight C. Jones' top administrators is out of contention, but controversy still swirls over Richmond's pending appointments to the GRTC Transit System board.

The City Council is set to vote Monday to appoint former Chief Administrative Officer Sheila Hill-Christian, as well as current members Linda G. Broady-Meyers and James M. Johnson, to the GRTC board of directors. Chesterfield County, which jointly owns GRTC with the city, will tap the other three members.

Councilmen Bruce W. Tyler and Charles R. Samuels said they plan to oppose the city's appointments because of concerns about the process that narrowed the candidates from 13 to eight to three.

Tyler said GRTC needs new leaders but worried that Hill-Christian may be too close to Jones, who tapped her to help lead his mayoral transition and later hired her as a consultant to the city.

"I feel this is a council appointment," Tyler said. "I want to make sure that person is operating truly independent from the administration."

He raised similar objections last week over the candidacy of Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Peter H. Chapman. Among the issues facing GRTC is the possible sale of its headquarters property near the Fan District. Jones wants the site to go to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority for eventual private development guided by the city through a review of proposals. Private developers also have expressed interest in the land.

"We need businesspeople" on the GRTC board, said Tyler, who recommended a developer, an attorney and an architect for appointment. "Basically, I'm tired of having a board that mails it in."

Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson defended the finalists as able to bring institutional knowledge and new expertise to GRTC. She said she's not concerned that Hill-Christian, a former executive with GRTC and RRHA, would work too closely with Jones, leaving the council out of the loop.

"He has not once made a decision of significant value to the city of Richmond in a vacuum," Robertson said.

Tyler also complained that a Sept. 15 application deadline was extended without discussion by the council. Hill-Christian submitted her forms Sept. 22. The extension was communicated to all council members, Robertson said.

Councilman E. Martin Jewell said he's comfortable with Hill-Christian and could have backed Chapman. "It's the people's business," he said of GRTC.

Samuels said he's bothered that current GRTC Director Michael Rohde wasn't interviewed because he wasn't available this past Monday, when a council committee interviewed candidates.

Councilman Douglas G. Conner Jr., chairman of the committee, defended the selections and the process. "We were pushed to make a decision," with GRTC's annual meeting scheduled for this month, he said.

Council President Kathy C. Graziano acknowledged the unhappiness but said: "We have a committee process. They went through the interviews. That's the way the process works."

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or .