The interim city manager auditions for the job by proposing drastic cuts.
Belton, 38, the interim city manager, was about to step in front of the City Council and a packed hall of residents and tell them they had to make drastic — even shocking — cuts to city services. Reduce funding for schools whose students are already among the lowest-performing in the state. Cut fire and police services in a city that has an unusually high rate of violent crime. Close departments, shrink city pay, shut down museums. Even withdraw support for the summer league baseball team.
Belton’s task was to make the council confront this and act. Every member would hate to hear the message, and the prescription would draw gasps and cries of disbelief from residents at the meeting later that night. And to make it a little tougher for Belton, this toxic presentation was, in effect, her job application.
a photo of a boarded-up building behind a sign proclaiming"Upscale Apartment Living" and captioned it"courtesy of Petersburg, Virginia."So it’s not surprising that the city would have budget problems. But the magnitude went unnoticed or unaddressed. The previous city manager oversaw the construction of a $12.7 million public library and, early this year, had the council considering plans to replace the 1856 city hall with an $18 million complex.
In recent years, African Americans have assumed most city leadership positions. After seeing how successful communities around the state managed to help themselves, Belton began to think she could make a difference in Petersburg. When the transit job led to the interim city manager role, she was ready for action.
Reaction from residents was sharp. After activists calling themselves Clean Sweep Petersburg blamed the council and called for steep budget cuts, Myers, who is black, wrote a memo dismissing the group and its cause as “scare tactics from a few racist and Republican supporters.” Others on the council distanced themselves from his comments.
Not acting to fix it, he continued in dry understatement, carried “significant risk.” The city could shut down in less than a month. The state might help support law enforcement, but if Petersburg stopped mandatory payments for schools, it could wind up in court. Meanwhile, other services would end. “Unfortunately,” the consultants wrote, “the city is not in a position to provide fire service at this level.”
The residents filing out of the train station generally agreed that harsh steps are needed; they just didn’t like the things that would personally affect them. “What happens in Petersburg affects the commonwealth of Virginia, and it affects our reputation in the nation and globally. So we want to make sure every part of Virginia shines,” McAuliffe said.
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