CHARLOTTESVILLE (WINA) – City Council has a 2 o’clock special meeting Wednesday afternoon to present their selection for the new City Manager. In a process that has been more closed than past City Manager searches, the only thing we know is the pick will not be current interim City Manager Michael Rogers. He withdrew from consideration shortly before the July 4 holiday after he was among three finalists Council had interviewed in closed session.

Mayor Lloyd Snook told The Schilling Show in June that Polihire, the consultant tasked with bringing in candidates, did their job well and there were many strong candidates. While councilors over the months have been very complimentary of Rogers’ job performance since he came on from the Robert Bobb Group in January 2022, they have done the work of interviewing others.

Past processes since the Maurice Jones left in 2018 to become City Manager in Chapel Hill, NC have been more public than this one. Taron Richardson was actually selected after an interview process that included a public meeting of three finalists of whom the citizens could ask questions. However, Richardson left after a few months on the job, followed by the hiring of Chip Boyles, who then resigned under pressure before Rogers came on. Council actually had someone accept the job as interim after Boyles left, only to have him renege a few days before beginning work in Charlottesville,

The 2 o’clock special meeting will be in City Space, not Council Chambers.