More Mo: Jones in as city manager
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Maurice Jones elbowed out 80 other candidates to take the top city job.PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE
After a four-month job search that drew over 80 applicants from all over the country, City Council went with the tried and true and picked Maurice Jones, the acting city manager, to become Charlottesville’s CEO.
Former NBC29 sports reporter Jones has spent much of his career at City Hall, starting as director of communications in the late ’90s, a position he held for six years. After a stint at the Miller Center, where he served as director of development, Jones came back to Charlottesville as assistant city manager under Gary O’Connell, who left the city manager slot open earlier this year when he took a job with the Albemarle County Service Authority.
Although speculation swirled that Jones was the top pick earlier this week, it wasn’t until Friday that the city officially announced that Jones will take the $170K-a-year position.
How big a role did being ensconced in the home court play? “It certainly gave me an advantage,” says Jones.
Despite his insider status, Jones getting the job wasn’t a done deal, according to Mayor Dave Norris. “Some may have assumed he had it in the bag and we were just going through the motions,” says Norris, but that wasn’t the case.
“Where it crystallized was in the interview,” says the mayor. “He nailed it. He had command of the issues.” And Council’s decision to hire Jones was unanimous, adds Norris.
“He genuinely cares about people,” says O’Connell, when asked what Jones’ best quality is for leading the city. “He knows lots of people in the community and he knows the issues.”
O’Connell is reluctant to offer advice to his successor, but when pressed, says, “My only advice is he help us find a solution to the water supply situation.” The city and county have been divided on a long-term water supply plan, but O’Connell says he believes they’re close.
And O’Connell repeats what his own predecessor, Cole Hendrix, told him: “Until you sit in that chair, you don’t know what it’s like. I believe he’s well-qualified to handle it and I wish him the best.”
When O’Connell announced that he was leaving the city manager job, Jones was not one of the first to send in his resume. “I took my time to apply,” he says. “I wanted to give myself time to see if this was something I could do.”
As the father of three young children, Jones says his soul searching was both professional and personal.
And the biggest factor preparing him in his arc from sports reporter to city manager? “What opened the door for me was being director of communications,” says Jones, 40. And when he returned back to city government two years ago, Jones began more seriously preparing himself for a position he hadn’t really foreseen that he would ever hold, he says.
Longtime civil rights advocate Eugene Williams didn’t foresee that either, for a different reason. “There are those of us that didn’t think we’d ever live to see the day that Charlottesville would have a black city manager,” says Williams, who was instrumental in integrating the city’s schools.
City Council is poised to adopt formally Jones’ contract at its December 6 meeting. And for Jones, he’s already rolling up his sleeves to work on the long-term water supply and the perennial priority of the city manager: putting together a budget.
Updated 4:15pm with Eugene Williams’ remarks.
Updated 4:40pm with Gary O’Connell’s comments.
He’ll be a fine City Manager–but he faces a very ugly budget shortfall. Couple years ago we had extra buck$ and every city department grabbed a bigger slice. Now we are left with bloated departments and no buck$. Reduced tax revenues. Does he have the moxie to cut programs?
Sad day for the City of Charlottesville. There are many who felt it was time for a change, and now the opportunity has been squandered, It’s just human nature that those who Mr. O’Connell should have fired will be kept on by Mr. Jones. It is doubtful that much will change in the staff at City Hall, and as for the water plan, well, Mr. O’Connell’s deputy is now in charge, and we can be sure the county dam builders are celebrating today.
This is indeed a sad day.
quote: Despite his insider status, Jones getting the job wasn’t a done deal, according to Mayor Dave Norris. “Some may have assumed he had it in the bag and we were just going through the motions,” says Norris, but that wasn’t the case.
Was Norris able to say this with a straight face?
Maurice will do great because he’s smart, sincerely considerate of the opinions of others and he LISTENS. He’s got all the people skills one could hope for.
@Sandy
There’s no guarantee that either of the other two candidates would have stormed into their new position, guns blazing, firing people. So I’m not sure why you seem so disappointed. In fact there’s probably even less of a chance they would have done that, considering they would have been completely new to City Hall and the region, and wouldn’t know those people in order to know about any supposed problems with them that make them worthy of being canned.
Not sure why people think that an outsider automatically equates to somebody who’s going to fire people and make radically different choices from the insider. Not good logic.
To all the detractors I say: Give the man a chance before you start putting words in his mouth and making assumptions about what he’s thinking, what he plans to do and where he’s coming from. You’re assuming the worst, without even having given him a chance to prove himself. Some people just like to run their mouths even when nothing has happened yet. If in a few years it becomes evident that you were right, well then go and pat yourselves on the back and tell everybody “I told you so!” But until then you’re not in a place to assume anything.
Perhaps Jones can appoint Todd Hawkins to a city post, thus reuniting the Channel 29 sports dream team.
What were the qualifications for this job.
Of course he could outshine the others in an interview, he’s not dumb. He knew what the Councilors wanted to hear, but can he do a better job standing up for city interests when it comes to dealing with the county, than his former boss, we’ll see.
It’s time the City staff and elected officials stop getting bullied by the county, I’m not sure Mr. Jones has true grit, when it comes to financial negotiations.
Jones has been acting City Manager for months. He was Assistant City Manager before that.
The city can’t balance its budget, sewage is still flowing into local streams, and the city just sent a whining note to the EPA saying that they can’t comply with the law. Jones has been there for all of that. I’m not seeing the leadership that this city needs coming out of that environment.
This thing was a sham all along and I’d really like to know what it cost the city to play that game.
@cookieJar: I was told yesterday that this process took $250K. The consultants that led this process were quite expensive, and then advertising costs, travel costs, etc. Someone could do a FOIA to find out. All for a fait accompli.
He did not even meet the basic, advertised qualifications for the position.
Was the point to have the first african american city manager or to find the best city manager to get us through the upcoming fiscal crisis? Because I thought it was the latter.
Today’s front page Progress article says that City Councilors are considering risking our AAA bond rating to borrow more money. In 2011, tax assessments on residential and commercial property are doing to decrease dramatically. If they don’t, you will see many, many people appealing the assessments. When the assessments are lower, revenue is lower, leaving Council no choice but to raise the tax rate, also a very unpopular choice in this economy. The City still relies on tax assessments as a major part of its budget. Without any previous serious budget, business, or financial experience, I am betting that Jones chooses borrowing over budget cuts.
Gary O’C was an Assistant City Manager for 14 years before he became Manager. Maurice hasn’t even been Asst for what, 2 years? Never managed a budget cycle during that time.
And this is the same Maurice Jones who as Communications Director defended the pathetic $20K aluminum Christmas tree that the City bought the year after the Norwegian spruce got cut down to enhance the east end of the Mall. And defended the traffic calming “improvements” on Park Street that have never slowed down traffic and in fact make the street more unsafe for pedestrians and motorists because of the useless cut-ins.
Nice guy, nice family, great spinner. In fact, in the last week he told local news reporters that he was not in discussions with the City on the position. Spin or lie?
We are in for some trouble in the City. As a taxpayer, I am really worried.
I suspect that no matter what the City did there would be a group of grumblers and “concerned citizens” and “concerned taxpayers” because that’s just how it goes.
If the city had hired one of the outside candidates then there would be a large group of upset citizens protesting that “The city got it wrong!” ranting about how they should have hired somebody who’s a longtime resident of Cville and who knows the community, and knows the issues and knows everybody involved.
And hiring Maurice Jones, the mostly native insider, means there’s the guaranteed crowd of protestors saying “The City needs fresh meat! The city doesn’t need business as usual! The city needs somebody who will stand up to Council and change the way things are done and clean house and fire everybody and start fresh with a whole new staff!”
But of course if that had happened then there would be the large group of indignant citizens p.o’d that some outsider thinks they can just come in and start telling the natives what’s what.
And then if the city hadn’t opened the search up to outsiders and had just directly hired Maurice Jones from the start, by-passing the laws of the city, then a large group of citizens would be screaming “THAT’S NOT FAIR! What if *I* wanted to try out for the position?? Everybody should have an equal shot at this job!!”
But if they open up the position to everybody and anybody who wants to apply in the entire world, which they did, then of course you have all the p.o’d “concerned tax payers” who are mad about the executive search firm that was hired to take charge of the process and do the advertising and weed through the applications and narrow things down, and arrange for the interview process, which includes flying people in if they’re from out of state, and putting them up in a hotel.
So basically…..the city can’t win. No matter what it did somebody somewhere was going to be p.o.’d.
I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, because I could see this one coming a mile away. :D
As I was reminded today that both the County and City have new manager who were also assistants. One of the differences is the county saved $250,000 by just giving the job to their top assistants and having a search.
Perhaps the county really is trying to cuts cost and the city decided that search firms needed a stimulus packages
Here’s how Mr. Jones got the 170K job.
http://www.wina.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5036631
What I want to see is a tough negotiator when it comes to deals with the county. The bleeding heart city liberals have been rolled one to many times for my liking. Wait till the state cuts medicaid and mental health funding, as they’ve proposed, which locality do you think will step in to fund those populations –the low tax county ?
” My only advice is he help us find a solution to the water supply situation.” I certainly hope that Mr. Jones does not agree with Mr. O’Connell’s assessment that a water plan is the communities most pressing problem.
We have plenty of water, but we are running out of money, and our sewer system is crumbling. There are major cuts in state funding on the way. This is the real crisis, not a lack of water.
from the Staunton Newsleader:
Cuts proposed by the state’s Medicaid agency would also affect mental health care, including:
— As much as $12 million in payments for community mental health services
— As much as $5.5 million for mental health case management
— As much as $4 million for day treatment services
Because state payments are matched by federal funds, the loss to local mental health agencies would be twice as large.
Among other proposed cuts:
— Eliminating $5 million of state funds for Comprehensive Services Act programs for the state’s most troubled youth
— Making cities and counties pay a larger share of Comprehensive Services Act school programs, saving the state $3.9 million
— Cutting the state share of spending for foster care for troubled youth, to save $7.5 million
— Cutting operating rates that Medicaid pays to nursing homes, to save as much as $37 million; cutting rates for outpatient treatment to save as much as $19 million, cutting fees for doctors to save as much as $26 million.
http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/073b9cbfdb0c4818ae6fac19d5e9ddb5/VA–Budget_Cuts/
We need more public housing and programs to lure homeless people and single welfare moms to live in Charlottesville. Hopefully, Mr. Jones will be up to the task. These folks will off-set the wealthy and privleged in this town, and bring us closer to the Charlottesville dream of a class free society that city council envisions for us.
What I’m wondering is this: Did the City Council hire Jones because they believe he’ll be a strong manager and leader, or because they believe he’ll do what they want him to do?
My fear is it’s the latter.
That may be better than Gary O’Connell, who was continually outsmarted by the County. The cost share for the water plan will be a test, and whether the City gives away all their water infrastructure ( (reservoirs and dams ) to county control and to support county growth. Will Mr. Jones first advise that they conduct an audit to determine the value. They stand to lose hundreds of acres of valuable land at Ragged Mt., as well as the reservoir at South Fork and the present dam at Ragged Mt., recently shown to only need a spillway repair.
The value of these assets alone, if sold to the county, could go a long way to bridging the cost of services for the preponderance of needy residents, not cared for in the county, but living in the City.
What is the value of the land at Ragged Mt. that will be lost by building the earthen dam and destroying our concrete dam worth ?
A big part of the problem with “Charlottesville government” aka, the Council, is the fact that it’s comprised of only five members, and all of whom are Democrats. That’s the problem. Maybe if Charlottesville modeled itself after something like Burlington, Vermont, things would be different. From Burlington’s Wiki page: “The City Council has fourteen seats, which are currently occupied by seven Democrats, three Republicans (One seat from Ward 4 and both seats of Ward 7), two Progressives, and two Independents.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington,_Vermont Sounds a little more balanced to me. There they have the same number of combined Repubs, Progressives and Independents balancing out the number of Dems, though admittedly the city is still largely Democrat, like Cville.
If the Council itself is balanced, and representing a broader and more accurate and realistic view of the population, then there no longer is an issue about whether a city manager is “only representing the interests of Council and acting as their puppet.” Can’t be a puppet of the Council if Council encompasses people from multi political parties.
Does anybody know how Cville got to be so…..um, homogenous? And why it doesn’t model itself after other cities who have multi political parties being represented in their city halls?
How ridiculous. What does Norris think Jones was doing for two years sitting in all those Council meetings, work sessions and closed-door sessions, sleeping? The other 80 applicants did not have the advantage of knowing more than what they could discover in recent newspapers.
Being able to describe what the current issues are is not that hard, the question is does one have the expertise to come up with a solution? Has Jones, who has been there for two years, demonstrated any ability to do that? Has any of the other 80 applicants?
People don’t forget that Jones has learned all he knows about city government sitting at the feet of Overrun O’Connell and that our Council is unlike any other in the State. O’Connell showed Beauregard, the budget director, and him how to tax and borrow in order to spend. He knows nothing else because this has been his only experience. As for appropriate staffing - Overrun. As for being outsmarted by the County - Overrun, who is now officially working for them. As for teaching Council anything - Overrun. Actually, as for anything - Overrun. If his mentor had been successful at anything, he would still be the City Manager.
Jones is contracted to carry out the wishes of City Council, not the other way around. If they wish to get lose the city’s AAA bond rating, there is absolutely nothing he can do about. He doesn’t have a vote. His futre with the city in this position rests solely in the hands of Council, as it should be in our form of government. And we should face the fact that if we had had an election from a field of the 80 applicants, Jones would have won by a landslide. A look at our Council should tell us that the Charlottesville voter does not take qualifications into account, just personality.
@Really, thanks for the link. It’s clear that City Hall thinks its top priority is providing for the poor.
C’ville Eye, I think that many in City Hall have providing for themselves as a top priority. That through sitting in a virtually firing proof position. Can anyone recall someone losing a job in City management because of poor performance? Yet, the evidence of poor performance in City Hall is all around.
You’re right about that. I watched the staff’s report to Council at one of its recently monthly meetings I believe chaired by Edwards. The staff presenter informed Council that the staff was looking in the estimated revenues to allow a 2% raise for all employees, poor performance or not. I wondered who was in charge here? Did Council say it wanted to give out raises this year when it has also said it doesn’t know where all of the money will be coming from to cover future deficits?
Also, when county residents started criticizing the $5M Hollymead fire station, calling it the county’s Taj Mahal, Overrun O’Connell reduced the city’s cost for the proposed Fonaine Avenue fire station from $10M to $5M. Now, with Jones at the helm, it seems the staff has proposed the Fontaine station cost $14M. The employee who suggested should be rated with “poor performance.” Charlottesville voters get exactly what they deserve.
wonder if A.G. Cuccinelli could investigate behind teh scenes here. doesn’t look on the up and up
Hum….$170K- jealous, you bet! Unfair advantage, of course. A benefit to the City- no chance………………
People keep speaking of a $170,000 salary. Why?
The actual salary, benefits and retirement package is much more. I would personally guesstimate the total package at $250,000+.
http://www.charlottesville.org/index.aspx?recordid=1439&page=635
quote: “The salary for the position is negotiable within a range of $165,000 to $190,000 based on the candidate’s qualifications and experience…. and is supplemented by an excellent benefits package.”
Larry, Moe, and Curly became candidates for the position of Zeus.
Then one of them became the chosen.
Mount Olympus remains a bit foggy.