New GRTC board member Hill-Christian to also help with city study

Former Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Sheila Hill-Christian's work for the city won't end with her recent appointment to the GRTC Transit System board.

She's also partnering with a Texas-based consultant on an economic-development study for the city. TIP Strategies of Austin tapped Hill-Christian as a subcontractor to conduct interviews with local officials and business owners and to organize focus groups, she said.

Hill-Christian's involvement in the project was not disclosed as the Richmond City Council was considering appointing her and two other representatives to the GRTC board of directors. She and current members Linda G. Broady-Meyers and James M. Johnson were appointed to one-year terms by a 6-3 vote last Monday. The city pays its GRTC representatives $166 per month if they attend the board meeting.

Councilman Bruce W. Tyler, who opposed the appointments in part because of concerns about Hill-Christian's ties with Mayor Dwight C. Jones, said he had been unaware of her involvement in the study and suggested she give up the GRTC appointment.

"You can't serve two masters," he said.

Hill-Christian said she sees no potential conflict and said TIP Strategies contacted her after consulting the city's list of minority vendors.

Hill-Christian, president and chief executive officer of Hill-Christian Consulting Group, said her share is less than $17,000 -- or about 10 percent of the approximate $170,000 total.

"I've got a very small part of the contract," she said. "They needed a local partner and a minority partner" for the comprehensive economic-development strategies study, which is required for the city to receive certain federal funds.

"I'm simply helping this group gather information," she said. "I'm not influencing the information."

Hill-Christian also said TIP Strategies and the city have been in talks for at least a year.

Tammy D. Hawley, the mayor's press secretary, was unable to discuss the study in detail but said the administration did not suggest Hill-Christian's participation. Hawley also said the city's current chief administrative officer, Byron C. Marshall, had no relationship with TIP Strategies when he worked in Austin, Texas, as president of the Austin Revitalization Authority.

"I can tell you unequivocally that Byron does not know these people," she said.

Other council members acknowledged having been unaware of Hill-Christian's role in the study but said they aren't convinced it poses any problem.

"Is it relevant to serving on GRTC?" Council President Kathy C. Graziano asked. "Is there a conflict? And if so, what would that conflict be?"

Councilman Chris A. Hilbert said he's not sure he sees any cause for alarm, but he did suggest that council members consider such issues when they interview potential appointees to boards and commissions.

"That may be a good question to start asking, whether somebody does any business with the city," he said.

Tyler, who had recommended a developer, architect and attorney for GRTC, said he remains concerned about a potential conflict for Hill-Christian because the GRTC board will consider selling GRTC's 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. Tyler said the property represents a prime opportunity for economic development, and he wondered what TIP Strategies might recommend.

Hill-Christian, who worked as CAO under then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, served as one of the volunteer leaders of Jones' mayoral transition. The Jones administration later hired her to help it get started. That $50,000, 10-month-contract ends next month, she said.

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