Asst Savannah City Manager Leaving

The Roanoke, Va., City Council announced today that it will hire Savannah Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill as its new City Manager, effective March 1.

Savannah City Manager Michael Brown expressed joy for Morrill's opportunity, but regret at losing Morrill's talent, leadership, and commitment to the larger Savannah community.

"We will miss his expertise in financial planning, his citizen-oriented approach to leadership, and his penchant for problem-solving," City Manager Michael Brown said. "While we hate to lose him, this is a great move for Chris and his family, and I couldn't be more thrilled for him."

Brown will work with Chris over the next month to select an interim replacement, and begin the search for a new Assistant City Manager. Morrill's exact departure date will be announced in the near future.

His departure will end a relationship with Savannah City Government that spans more than two decades, beginning in 1988 when Chris served as Savannah's Senior Management Analyst. In 1990, he was promoted to Research and Budget Director, then left in 1992 to volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps, advising cities in the former Soviet Union on finance and management issues. Chris returned to Savannah in 1994, serving again as Research and Budget Director until 1999, when he took a position with the U.S. Agency for International Development as Senior Municipal Finance Advisor to the South African National Treasury.

Chris returned to Savannah in 2001 after Brown hired him as Assistant City Manager for Management and Financial Services, a Bureau that includes more than 300 employees in departments such as Finance, Human Resources, Research and Budget, Vehicle Maintenance, Information Technology, Revenue and Parking Services.

Most recently he oversaw implementation of Savannah's new priority-based budgeting process – Budgeting for Outcomes – which helped produce a balanced budget with no layoffs, major service reductions or millage increases during the greatest economic crisis in the City's recent history. Chris has also been a leader in many of the major projects and initiatives the City has accomplished over the past nine years, including playing a key role in the redevelopment of the public-private Ellis Square project. Chris has served in several leadership positions in the larger community, including president of Leadership Savannah, and Board Member of the United Way of the Coastal Empire and the Historic Savannah Foundation.