The next city manager

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: June 1, 2008

Danville’s next city manager will have to work hard to emerge from Jerry Gwaltney’s shadow.

Gwaltney set the standard for new job creation, establishing and maintaining regional economic development cooperation and the shrewd financial management of the city government.

Replacing Gwaltney will be the most important decision Danville City Council will make, and it will be even tougher because three new faces will be joining City Council — including two who have no previous council experience — at the end of this month.

Any discussion of Gwaltney’s successor begins with the need to continue the most successful period of job creation in the community’s history — a time when the region not only added record numbers of new jobs, but jobs in diverse sectors.

Economic development has to be one of the new manager’s primary responsibilities. Applicants must have economic development experience — and a record of success recruiting new businesses and industries.

The next city manager will have to understand the unique — and nationally recognized — economic development partnership with Pittsylvania County and be ready, from the first day on the job, to work with the various local, state and federal players to ensure that that relationship continues.

Also, the next city manager will have to be willing to work with existing industry and the work force development agencies in the Dan River Region to ensure that companies have a steady stream of properly trained workers for those new jobs.

Danville buys electricity and natural gas on the wholesale market and sells those products to its retail customers. Profits from the sale of utilities has been a source of revenue for the city government — and kept real estate taxes low. Danville’s next city manager must have experience with public utilities.

Over the years, the city’s last, best solution to the problem of blighted housing has been demolition. But the city’s neighborhood and citizen groups are a powerful tool for the next city manager to use in the fight against blighted housing, the code violations that eventually lead to demolition and even the crime problem. Our next city manager should be ready to listen to Danville’s residents about what’s happening in the neighborhoods.

Other issues that need to be addressed include ongoing infrastructure repairs and replacements, violent crime and the need to pay city workers well enough to keep them on the job.

Danville’s next city manager will be asked to ensure that the progress seen here since 2000 doesn’t slip away. Danville has a lot of old problems that are well on their way to being fixed because of the positive changes that were made over the past eight years.

Danville’s next city manager must build on the best of what’s happening today to keep the city moving forward. Because we know how good things can be, the challenge is to find someone who will take the city to that proverbial next level.