Audits released this week for the cities of Austin, Texas, and Denver have stung two senior members of Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration. The Denver audit is particularly critical of work by Seedco Financial Services, which was led by Peter H. Chapman before he was hired this summer as Richmond’s deputy chief administrative officer for economic and community development.

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.

A new, wooden fence concealed an ugly truth at 506 Chimborazo Blvd. in Richmond’s East End. Mosquito-infested brush, broken glass and construction debris were strewn in large piles across the yard behind the vacant, two-story house. Michael Evins, a grounds division manager in the Department of Public Works, paused in his vehicle off a narrow alley and said the yard appeared to be a dumpsite for much of the neighborhood. Then, he sized up the magnitude of yet another cleanup job—more than three large truckloads of debris, requiring a skilled crew and a Bobcat loader.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ plan to reorganize several city departments won’t be legally binding without approval by the City Council, City Attorney Norman B. Sales said yesterday. At the request of several council members, Sales issued an opinion on the restructuring plan announced last week by the Jones administration. He said the city charter gives Chief Administrative Officer Byron C. Marshall the power to temporarily reassign employees under his control but reserves for the council the authority to alter or reorganize city departments.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced yesterday plans to correct “major financial management failures” in the city’s Department of Social Services after the discovery of an estimated $3.8 million overbilling to the state. “We have no evidence that any of this is based in fraud or corruption, but rather poor management and record keeping which indicates a need to make significant procedural changes and improve the department’s operations,“ Chief Administrative Officer Byron C. Marshall said in a statement.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced yesterday another top aide in his administration. Peter H. Chapman will become deputy chief administrative officer for economic and community development effective July 13. His annual salary will be $160,000. Chapman will be positioned to play a role in such high-profile issues as the proposed Echo Harbour hotel, office and condominium development along the James River, as well as the talks aimed at bringing professional baseball back to Richmond, including a long-term plan for a stadium.

Appointed job: Richmond chief administrative officer, pending City Council approval
  Current job: president and chief executive officer of Austin Revitalization Authority in Texas
  Previous jobs: principal in The Marshall Group, a public-sector consulting firm; chief operating officer for Atlanta; first assistant city manager for Austin, Texas; acting director, deputy director of finance and administration for Houston; acting director, deputy director and deputy controller of human services, deputy director for administration for corrections and budget coordinator in mayor’s budget office for Washington; and assistant to city administrator, acting superintendent of parks and acting director of personnel and human rights for Ann Arbor, Mich.

Byron C. Marshall, the lone finalist to be chief administrative officer of Richmond, is being brought back to town for another round of meetings with the City Council. Marshall, president and CEO of the nonprofit Austin Revitalization Authority in Texas, was expected to arrive last night for a series of private meetings this weekend, Tammy D. Hawley, press secretary to Mayor Dwight C. Jones, confirmed yesterday.

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.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones is showing signs that he’ll soon fill several top positions in his administration. The city has pulled its recent advertisement for a deputy chief administrative officer for economic and community development, and an appointment is pending, according to Tammy D. Hawley, the mayor’s press secretary. The position offers a salary range of $111,957 to $168,732 per year.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones is restructuring the city administration to consolidate oversight of efforts to recruit development and to determine whether projects comply with zoning and other regulations. The city began advertising Sunday for a deputy chief administrative officer for economic and community development. The position offers a salary range of $111,957 to $168,732 per year.

With his trial balloon for a top city post taking some hits and losing altitude, where does Mayor Dwight C. Jones go from here? His officially unacknowledged candidate for chief administrative officer, Byron C. Marshall, leads an agency whose performance is being audited. That review of the Austin Revitalization Authority could delay Jones’ timetable for picking a CAO.

The possible appointment of Byron C. Marshall as Richmond’s chief administrative officer is drawing sharply different responses from some City Council members. Early yesterday, council members said they believed a formal request to approve Marshall’s appointment could be introduced Monday by Mayor Dwight C. Jones. But the mayor’s office said such a request is not imminent.

The community development corporation led by a finalist for Richmond’s top administrative post is the subject of an audit that is expected to be finished this summer. The city of Austin, Texas, is formally reviewing the work of the nonprofit Austin Revitalization Authority, which was set up in 1995 to help revive a blighted area of East Austin.

finalist for chief administrative officer in Richmond
currently president/chief executive officer of Austin Revitalization Authority in Texas
was principal in The Marshall Group, a public-sector consulting firm
served as chief operating officer in Atlanta, also executive director of Atlanta Downtown Development Authority
served as first assistant city manager in Austin, Texas