Homewood panel interviews Charlottesville risk manager as city prepares to shift to city-manager government

Homewood City ad hoc committee members interviewed Phil Spence, the city of Charlottesville risk manager, on the committee’s search for an interim city manager to lead Homewood through a scheduled transition to a council–manager form of government.

The interview focused on Spence’s executive experience, budgeting and risk-management work, and immediate priorities he would pursue if hired to start about March 1. Committee chair Councilor Barry Smith said the committee hopes to finish first-round interviews in mid-February, bring finalists to Homewood for follow-up interviews, and have an interim manager in place “on or around March 1.” Smith said the city passed a referendum last September changing the form of government and that the new municipal election in August will produce a new council that takes office in November.

Why it matters: Homewood’s change from an 11-member council with a part-time mayor to a smaller council with a full-time city manager rewrites administrative responsibility for routine operations, hiring and budgeting. Committee members repeatedly framed the interim hire as a bridge to the new government that will decide whether to extend any contract beyond the interim period.

Spence, who identified himself as the city of Charlottesville’s risk manager and a recent MPA graduate from Old Dominion University, described his approach as “servant leadership.” He said he focuses on process improvements, centralized reporting and policies that reduce claims and improve services. He told the committee he had led an effort in Charlottesville to replace a manual incident-reporting workflow with a risk-management information system by negotiating a subuser arrangement with the city’s insurer; that arrangement “literally cut the…the price tag for us, by 1 5th,” he said, and allowed employees and citizens to submit incidents through a portal with attachments and photos.

Committee members asked Spence how his risk-management background would translate to an executive city-manager role. Spence said risk management gave him a cross-departmental view and experience with budgeting and forecasting. He described managing a roughly $5 million risk fund, designing departmental chargebacks for insurance costs, and producing a Popular Annual Financial Report to make financial information more accessible. He said those practices help with forecasting premium increases and allocating costs across departments.

During the interview the committee raised specific operational priorities they expect an interim manager to address: establishing centralized human-resources and onboarding practices, strengthening internal controls in finance, and centralizing procurement. Councilor Jennifer (Ward 5, Place 1) and others said Homewood currently lacks a centralized HR office and has relied on department-level onboarding; members identified HR centralization and procurement as immediate needs. Spence said he would first meet department heads and stakeholders, listen, and then focus on prioritized improvements; he noted the short interim timeline would require quicker action than a longer-term, incremental approach.

The committee described the hiring timeline and legal framework. Smith told Spence the council will pass a resolution in February to hire a city manager and that Alabama law requires the council to provide notice “no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days in advance” of that person starting. Committee members also noted that under Alabama practice the council could offer contracts of up to three years, but they said the incoming November council will decide whether to renew any contract.

No formal action or vote occurred during this interview; the committee is continuing interviews on an accelerated schedule and will reconvene to narrow candidates. Committee members cited internal support resources available to the incoming manager, including the city attorney Mike Kendrick and a long-serving chief of staff who will assist with institutional knowledge and onboarding.

The interview included discussion of local constraints the candidate would inherit. Committee members reminded Spence that Homewood hires through the Jefferson County Personnel Board because of earlier litigation, a structure they do not expect to change soon. They also said the city plans to outsource payroll, a move members framed as freeing staff for other tasks rather than cutting positions.

The committee concluded the session by thanking Spence and explaining next steps: additional interviews over the following days and a plan to invite finalists to Homewood for in-person meetings with department heads and a site tour prior to any offer. Spence thanked the committee and said he appreciated the opportunity to interview.

Ending: The panel continues first-round interviews; committee members said they will meet again to narrow candidates and schedule follow-up site visits before any hiring resolution is finalized.