Last week, Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl announced she was retiring after serving the city for more than 20-years.
The announcement came during the city council meeting after a report from Curl on Moving Richmond Forward—a report from her on city activities.
“With that, I would like to say thank you to the entire city council for your leadership, I also want to let the city council and the community know that when our three part renovation projects are completed, I will be retiring from the city of Richmond, thank you so much,” stated Curl.
Although she had been with the city since 2003, she was appointed interim city manager in November 2021 before being appointed City Manager in April 2022. An exact date was not provided.
Says She Will Not be Bulled by the Police Union
Prior to closed session, Ben Therriault, President of the Richmond Police Association, shared he believed the contract of the city manager should not be made in an echo chamber or on the basis of “self-assessment” in closed session—or handshake. He said the Richmond POA is calling for the city to adopt a 360 degree evaluation process for the city manager, one that includes direct confidential input from labor, the public, and not something filtered through HR.
“From the people who actually work under this administration every single day,” said Therriault. “That is the best practices in every serious organization in the country and Richmond should not be the exception.
He said there are department heads in the city who have looked elsewhere, a lot of the staff talks and the pattern of micromanagement from the city managers office has undermined operational decision making has demonized some in the staff and confusion instead of clarity.
Curl responded, “I have indicated before, I am not going to be bullied by our POA. We were scheduled to meet with them on Friday, April 17th, and they cancelled the meeting. We currently have 14 items that we’re seeking to address with them outside of regular negotiations. And so it’s really disappointing when we have time calendared to meet with them that they cancel at the last minute. We are endeavoring to continue to we are endeavoring to continue to negotiate in good faith and in order to do so they have to be at the table. One of the things on the list of 14 also includes an update to um their evaluation process as well. So we look forward to coming to resolution on these things in the near term.”
