Interim chief administrator leaving City Hall; search for new CAO in ‘final stage’

Sabrina Joy-Hogg

Richmond’s temporary top administrator and second-highest-ranking official is departing City Hall as a national search for its next long-term chief is said to be nearing the finish line.

The city announced Wednesday that Sabrina Joy-Hogg, who has been serving as interim chief administrative officer since January, will resign from the city June 6.

A new interim CAO will be appointed in coming weeks, according to the announcement, as well as an interim appointee for Joy-Hogg’s regular role as deputy CAO of finance and administration.

Joy-Hogg is taking a job with the City of Newport News as senior deputy city manager for finance and administration, according to a release from that city, VPM reported.

The announcement came a week after a contentious budget season that concluded with City Council’s adoption by a 6-2 vote. Several councilmembers expressed displeasure with the process during workshops that at times saw tense exchanges with Joy-Hogg and other administrators.

The move also follows a tumultuous five months that saw a water plant failure and dayslong service outage, a subsequent spike in fluoride levels during repairs to the plant, error-caused delays in real estate tax rebate deliveries, and controversies involving employee purchasing cards and other issues.

The city’s announcement credited Joy-Hogg, who started at the city as deputy CAO in 2022, with helping Richmond achieve its first AAA credit rating from bond rating agency Fitch, as well as her role in the budget-writing process and in investments for employees such as the downtown Marathon Health clinic serving city staff.

Joy-Hogg, left, with city administrators and councilmembers at last year’s announcement of Richmond’s first AAA bond rating. (BizSense file photo)

The announcement included comments from Joy-Hogg, who said she leaves City Hall with pride in achievements such as raising the city’s minimum wage and transitioning to the Virginia Retirement System.

“Thank you for the opportunity to serve. I leave with deep gratitude and full confidence in the extraordinary path ahead,” Joy-Hogg was quoted as saying.

The release also included remarks from Mayor Danny Avula, who named Joy-Hogg as interim CAO soon after taking office. Prior to Richmond, Joy-Hogg served as chief deputy city manager of Norfolk and deputy city manager of Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Sabrina’s dedication to achieving a balanced budget and her institutional knowledge was a tremendous help in the early months of my administration,” Avula said in the release. “I’m thankful for her dedication over these past five months and wish her continued success in her new role.”

Joy-Hogg’s exit makes her the latest senior official to leave City Hall in the past six months.

She was named interim CAO following the departure of Lincoln Saunders, who resigned in December after four years in the role. In January, April Bingham resigned as utilities director in the wake of the water outage.

Avula launched a national search for a new CAO in January, retaining search firm Robert Bobb Group, which has been working with PoliHire. Wednesday’s announcement said the search “is in the final stage” and that a candidate would be announced soon.

In an interview earlier this week, Avula told BizSense that he had a selected candidate and was finalizing agreements ahead of seeking City Council’s OK. He said that process would take at least another week to coordinate scheduling with the candidate and meet with council, likely in a specially called meeting after council’s May 27 regular meeting.

“We are very close to reaching an agreement,” Avula said.

The post Interim chief administrator leaving City Hall; search for new CAO in ‘final stage’ appeared first on Richmond BizSense.