Tuesday, Feb. 1 starts a new era in City of Greensboro government as the day City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba starts his new job.

Jaiyeoba, who was an assistant city manager and planning director in Charlotte before accepting the job as Greensboro city manager, is the first Greensboro city manager to be hired from outside the organization since the city hired Rashad Young as city manager in 2009.

When Young left to accept the job of city manager for the City of Alexandria in 2011, Denise Turner Roth was promoted to city manager.  When Roth left to join the Obama administration in 2013, Jim Westmoreland was promoted to city manager. And when Westmoreland retired in April 2018, David Parrish was promoted to city manager.

So it’s been a while since the City of Greensboro government had someone brand new at the top, and Jaiyeoba didn’t waste any time in making some changes.  When Jaiyeoba took over, Interim City Manager Chris Wilson stepped down from his interim role to return to assistant city manager, but that didn’t last long because Jaiyeoba named Wilson as deputy city manager.  According to the press release, Wilson “will lead and provide support for development services and economic development, while placing emphasis on the organizations internal daily operations.”

According to the City of Greensboro council-manager form of government, all city employees – with the notable exception of the city attorney and his office– work for the city manager.  The City Council only has the power to hire and fire two employees – the city manager and the city attorney.  So, on Tuesday, Feb. 1, over 3,000 city employees got a new boss.

Jaiyeoba also added a long vacant position to the city manager’s office and announced that on Feb. 16 April Albritton will join the city staff as “assistant to the city manager.”  According to the press release, “Abbritton will oversee the administrative operations of the City Manager’s Office, supervise support staff and manage special programs and major projects.”  The last time there was an assistant to the city manager in the city manager’s office was when Young was city manager from 2009 to 2011.

Former City Manager Parrish caught some councilmembers by surprise when he announced in May that he would be resigning effective June 30.  The City Council began a nationwide search for a new city manager and announced that Jaiyeoba had been selected at its meeting on Dec. 21, 2021.

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