Darlene Burcham may have been just the ticket when she was hired away from the city of Norfolk nine years ago to replace the laid-back Bob Herbert as City Manager, but her aggressive management style has apparently worn thin with Roanoke City Council. In a closed session Monday, council members made it clear they would not renew her contract later this year, and Burcham will retire as of March 1, 2010.
Ironically, Mayor David Bowers, who did not vote to hire Burcham in 1999, and later issued a promise to fire her during his then-unsuccessful bid for mayor, told members of the media he had worked well with Burcham over the past year.
Nevertheless, “it was clear that council wanted to move in a new direction,” Burcham said once the closed session was over, “[and] that’s the role of Council.”
Burcham “offered” to retire, said councilwoman Gwen Mason at the public meeting Monday night, also referring to the city manager’s “awfully strong,” management style. Mason said she looks forward to “a smooth transition as we move forward.”
Both Burcham and Mason were on hand early Tuesday morning at the Regional Chamber’s annual summit. During a break, Mason said council members had been discussing for a while, “the general direction of the city. Those conversations [about a leadership change] had been taking place for many, many months. There’s some weariness involved.”
Mason did praise the “great work” Burcham had been involved with over the past nine years, although some council members and citizens felt she was often too secretive about the decision-making process. In the past decade, downtown housing has sprouted, art hubs like Jefferson Center and the Taubman Museum have come online, and a new trade show hall at the Civic Center was built.
Burcham was aware of the desire for a change, said Mason, who feels the nine-month “soft landing” was appropriate. It also allows time for a nationwide search. With an annual salary of $173,000, Mason said there was also the financial consideration in not letting Burcham go early – and having two city manager salaries on the books.
“It became a cost-benefit calculation as to what was best for the city from a financial and leadership standpoint,” Mason said.
Mason said she is, “very interested in a city manager with a real appreciation and understanding, either through education or experience, of business [and] economic development. I’d love to see someone with an MBA or MPA.”
City council member Court Rosen said in a statement released Tuesday, “these decisions are never easy, and given the circumstances I believe that [Monday] showed great professionalism on both the part of Ms. Burcham as well as the council. While we all will never agree on every decision that has or has not been made …she has accomplished many good things in her time in the manager’s office.”
Rosen wants a new director of economic development to lead renovation efforts at the City Market building, identified as the top capital project priority at Monday’s council meeting.
In her time remaining, Rosen said city council and Burcham, “will work closely and collaboratively …to make decisions that are in the best interest of the most residents of the community.” Much like Mason, he would also like to hire a City Manager with a “strong background in economic development and financial management. I think this is particularly important for Roanoke in this economic climate and [I] want to make certain that Roanoke is poised to take advantage of opportunities.”
Mason added that she was, “looking for a manager who is a collaborative decision maker, a manager interested in making decisions in the open as much as possible – an extraordinarily thorough communicator with council…so we do right by the city, and set [Roanoke] on the right trajectory for the future. It’s critical.”
