Retirement of City Manager Darlene Burcham

As has been widely reported, City Manager Darlene Burcham and Roanoke City Council agreed to a March 1, 2010 retirement date for Ms. Burcham. These decisions are never easy, and given the circumstances I believe that yesterday showed great professionalism on both the part of Ms. Burcham as well as the council.

Ms. Burcham has dedicated nine years to the management of the City. While we all will never agree on every decision that has or has not been made, Ms. Burcham has been a dedicated, committed and hardworking member of the Roanoke family. She has accomplished many good things in her time in the Manager's office.

I am confident that the next nine months will be a fruitful time for the City Council and Ms. Burcham to work together to accomplish great things, from hiring a new Director of Economic Development to lead our increasingly important efforts in that area to the much-needed renovation of the Market Building. Ms. Burcham is committed to working tirelessly until the day she retires, and as a council we have come to expect nothing less from her. We will work closely and collaboratively with her to make decisions that are in the best interest of the most residents of the community.

As Council moves forward in its search for Ms. Burcham's successor, my focus and work will be to help find a new city manager with a strong background in economic development and financial management, and someone that recognizes the many wonderful attributes of our diverse community. I think this is particularly important for Roanoke in this economic climate and want to make certain that Roanoke is poised to take advantage of opportunities to attract more and better jobs to the area and encourage business growth and expansion.

Increased and expanded opportunity is in the best interest of each member of our community and I look forward to working to accomplish these goals.