List of City Councilors
List of City Councilors, 1946 to present
From September 1, 1946 to present, the City of Charlottesville has operated under a Council-Manager form of government. Charlottesville voters elect a five member Council to serve at-large (citywide) as the City’s legislative and governing body. The terms of Council members are staggered so that three are elected in one year and two are elected two years later. The members serve four year terms. Following the last election, the members select one Councilor to serve as Mayor and one as Vice Mayor for two years. If a vacancy occurs, Council elects a new member to serve out the unexpired term.
- Since 2007, Municipal elections have been held in November in odd-numbered years with the new two-year term beginning on January 1 following the last election. From 1972 until 2006, City Council elections were held in May of even-numbered years and terms began on July 1. Prior to 1970, Municipal elections were held in June of even-numbered years and regular terms began on September 1.
City population in 1950: 25,969 / City population in 1960: 29,427 / City population in 1970: 38,880 / City population in 1980: 39,916 / City population in 1990: 40,341 / City population in 2000: 40,099 / City population in 2010: 43,475 See also: City charter: 1946 Charter / Form of government: Council-Manager
1928-1946 (Commission-Business Manager, at-large)
City population in 1930: 15,245 / City population in 1940: 19,400
- City charter: 1922 Charter / Form of government: Commission
From September 1, 1928 to August 31, 1946, the council was composed of five commissioners elected at large.
1922 to 1928 (Commissioners, at-large)
- City charter: 1922 Charter / Form of government: modified commission
Charlottesville's charter was modified by an act of the Legislature, and on September 1, 1922, the city was taken over by the Commissioner-Manager form of government. The voters choose three commissioners at-large, one of whom was selected by the Commission to served as mayor. The Commissioners employed a Business Manager, who served in an executive capacity.
Council membership in those years was as follows:
1922-1924
Election: June 13, 1922 / Term: September 1, 1922 to August 31, 1924
- John R. Morris, president of the city council (mayor)
- E. A. Joachim
- J. Y. Brown
1924-1926
Election: June 1924 / Term: September 1, 1924 to August 31, 1926
- John R. Morris
- E. A. Joachim
- J. Y. Brown, president of the city council (mayor)
1926-1928
Election: June 1926 / Term: September 1, 1926 to August 31, 1928
- John R. Morris
- E. A. Joachim
- J. Y. Brown, president of the city council (mayor)
1900 to 1922 (Bicameral Council, four wards)
City population in 1900: 6,449 / City population in 1910: 6,765 / City population in 1920: 10,688 (58.0% growth from 1910)
- City charter: 1899/1900 Charter / Form of government: week-mayor council. Duties of an executive or administrative character were performed by several council committees under ordinances.
- The Virginia Constitution of 1902 (Art. VIII, Sec. 121) provided that cities should operate under mayor-council government. Councils were to be elected by ward, and cities with more than 10,000 people were required to have bicameral councils.
The city was governed by a mayor elected at-large (elected from the electors in all the four wards) and a 12-member bicameral council (each ward elected one member to the city board of aldermen and two members to the common council). Duties of an executive or administrative character were performed by several councilor headed committees under ordinances. The Mayor did not vote except in case of a tie vote of the members of the Council present at the meeting. The Mayor played a central role in selecting committee chairs and members. The President of the Council functioned as Mayor when the Mayor was absent from a Council meeting.
- School Board: 4-member school board; one board member was appointed by the council from each of the city's four wards, while the mayor served as the board president.
1913 Municipal Business Manager
In September 1913, the City form of government was modified wherein the mayor became the city's Business Manager. A Municipal Business Manager was provided for Charlottesville by ordinance. All duties of an executive or administrative character, which had previously been performed by several councilor headed committees under ordinances, which were in force before the creation of the new office; were then required to be discharged exclusively by Municipal Business Manager, the committees acting in an advisory capacity. [1]
1888 to 1900 (Common Council, four wards)
City population in 1900: 6,449
- City charter: 1888 Charter / Form of government: mayor-common council
Charlottesville incorporated as a city in 1888. The first city charter provided for a biennially elected mayor and a twelve-member board of aldermen (three alderman were elected from each of the four wards). The City of Charlottesville was governed by this common council from 1888 to 1900, when a new city charter was put into effect. The President of the Council functioned as Mayor when the Mayor was absent from a Council meeting.
1900 – 1950 forms of government
- Common council with twelve members elected by district (four wards). Elected at-large mayor; council president mayor pro tempore.
- Bicameral council elected by district (four wards); four aldermen and eight councilmen. Elected at-large mayor; council president mayor pro tempore. All duties of an executive or administrative character were performed by several council committees under ordinance.
- Mayor-Business Manager: At-large elected Mayor also served as Business Manager; all duties of an executive or administrative character were discharged exclusively by the Municipal Business Manager; committees acting in an advisory capacity. Legislative council with twelve members elected by district (four wards).
- Commission form of city government: (as known as the Galveston Plan) composed of three at-large elected members of the city council (commissioners); one commissioner was designated to function as president of the council or mayor.
- Modified commission with five members of the city council; council president acting as mayor.
- Modified city manager with five at-large elected members of the city council; council president acting as mayor.
- (Straight) Council-manager form with five at-large elected members of the city council; council president acting as mayor.
- ↑ Web. The American City, Vol. XIII, No. 5, Contributors Arthur Hastings Grant, Harold Sinley Buttenheim, Original from Harvard University, The Civic Press, Buttenheim Publishing Corporation, 87 Nassau Street, New York, July-December,1915; Digitized Mar 21, 2007, The Google Books Digital Content Store, retrieved August 4, 2019.