Charlottesville appoints Sam Sanders to fill vacant city manager position

Charlottesville has made the appointment of Samuel Sanders Jr. to serve as city manager official.

Sanders, the deputy city manager for the past year, came to Charlottesville from Baton Route, La., where he had served as executive director of that city’s Mid City Redevelopment Alliance.

“When he came to Charlottesville, he was put in charge of departments and divisions dealing with areas like housing, transit, public works, planning, zoning. In some of those departments he found disfunction… he has quietly and effectively dealt with those dysfunctional areas,” Mayor Lloyd Snook said in a press release from the city.

A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Sanders is a graduate of Christopher Newport University, holds an M.P.A. from Troy State University, and completed the Achieving Excellence program at Harvard University’s Kennedy’s School of Government in 2020.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to be the next city manager of Charlottesville. It’s a big job, and I’m ready to give it my all,” Sanders said.