Alexandria City Manager Rashad Young Leaving for DC: Report

The City of Alexandria is losing its city manager, Rashad Young, to D.C.

Washington, D.C.’s Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser has named Young her city administrator, a role he’ll begin after her inauguration Jan. 2, according to a report in The Washington Post.

“It’s exciting for him,” Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille told NBC-4 last night. “We are saddened we are losing him. It speaks volumes on the quality of the leadership we have in the [Alexandria].”

Euille will recommend that deputy city manager Mark Jenks be named acting city manager, he told the TV station. Alexandria Deputy City Manager Thomas Gates announced two weeks ago he was resigning to take a job as Roanoke County administrator.

Young, 38, began his job in Alexandria three years ago, as the youngest and first African-American city manager. In 2011, Young was hired at a salary of $245,000 per year.

Young’s career has been dedicated to public service. He began as an intern at the City of Dayton and earned his Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Business Administration from the University of Dayton. He worked in Dayton as the assistant to the city manager, ceputy director of the Division of Information & Technology Services, and acting assistant City Manager.

In 2002, Young accepted a position with the City of Cincinnati, Ohio as assistant city manager. Young moved back to Dayton in 2005 where after a brief term as assistant city manager, he accepted his first city manager appointment. Young’s tenure in Dayton included accomplishments such as maintaining fiscal discipline and achieving the upgrading of the City’s bond rating. Young had similar success in Greensboro, North Carolina where he was appointed as city manager in 2009.

Citing Alexandria as being “one of two places in the country” that he wanted to live and raise his family, Young accepted the appointment as Alexandria’s 17th city manager in October 2011.

In Alexandria, Young serves as chief executive to a workforce of approximately 3,700 employees and maintains a $624 million General Fund operating budget. His tenure with the City of Alexandria thus far has been highlighted by initiatives aimed at improving communication, performance, and accountability throughout the organization.

In contrast, DC employs nearly 35,000 and has a local budget in excess of $6 billion yearly, the Post points out.

“Rashad has a track record of success, the experience to get results, and the energy to execute my ambitious agenda for all eight wards,” Bowser (D) said in a statement to the newspaper. “Our approach to governing is straightforward: using the best practices, technology and talent to deliver services efficiently to the residents and businesses of Washington, D.C.”

That track record according to his bio on the City of Alexandria Web site, includes:

• Introducing the 4 Guiding Principles to guide the vision and strategy of the organization.
• Forming the Office of Performance and Accountability (OPA) to develop a culture and practice of performance management and data-driven decision making.
• Forming the Department of Project Implementation (DPI) to more effectively manage the growing and expansive list of City infrastructure capital projects.
• Promoting Alexandria as a city that welcomes residential, small businesses and economic development; most recently with the National Science Foundation’s June, 2013 announcement that it will be relocating its headquarters to the Eisenhower Avenue corridor.
• Enhancing civic engagement by developing and deploying technology such as Call.Click.Connect that allows citizens and stakeholders to communicate directly with staff at all levels of the organization.

Young is married to Tameka Jones-Young. They have two children and reside in the City of Alexandria.

PHOTO of Rashad Young courtesy of City of Alexandria