Suzette combines a depth of knowledge and
passion for local government that is rarely found. She is an
amazingly fast learner and has mastered some of the most
complex issues facing state and local governments. She has an extraordinary
way of advocating for local government that is persuasive even
for our harshest critics.
- Bob O’Neill
International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Executive Director
International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Executive Director
was the package he had been looking for.
The work involved people like [former Superintendent of Public
Schools] Jo Lynne DeMary, and [former Secretary of Education]
Belle Whelan. It was like herding cats because the issues were so
huge. Everything you do costs a lot of money because there are
1,200,000 students.
“That, I would say was the biggest
challenge I directly helped with.”
We wondered what Mark Warner was like to
work with. Having come from the public sector, we thought she
would shed some light on how he
CAPITOL CHALLENGES
We asked her, what if any were her biggest
challenges working in the Warner Administration.
“The thing that probably was the
biggest challenge wasn’t so much the budget or tax
issues, which certainly were predominant. It was the
“Education for a Lifetime,” the campaign promise.
The Governor had to bring public awareness to education to make
it more efficient, and to make some improvements that were just
good for students and their families. Especially things like
college tuition, [finishing] high school, things that save real
money for families.”
She said it was really tough trying to get
the Governor to focus on the whole concept as a package, and to
get the right people into a room to hear the message.
“That was intense labor until the Governor felt it was to
a place where it
Whether lobbying a bill with legislators
or discussing the most mundane of office issues, Suzette never
fails to treat everyone with equal respect. She is thoughtful,
kind, and poised; yet she is relentless in fighting for a
cause. Suzette is proof that you don’t have to be pushy
to make your point in an effective manner.
- Cathy M. Ghidotti
Director of Scheduling
Governor Tim Kaine
Director of Scheduling
Governor Tim Kaine
navigated the world of governmental and
political bureaucracy. “The Governor [Warner] is his own
negotiator, and decision maker, and I’d always be
reluctant to imply otherwise because he is. But just getting
the people there in front of him and prepared, and trying to
predict what he is looking for, what he’s going to ask and
the make sure the people are prepared.
“I worked with great professional
people who have done some wonderful things. The challenge
wasn’t so much that it was hard to get to the right
place, the challenge was more keeping it all going forward in a
timely fashion. You could have discussed it forever. It was
more helping to manage the process, words I never thought I
would say . . .
“What I really loved about working
in the Governor’s Office was the people who were there. I
just could not tell you what a fabulous group of
people—very nice, smart, hard working people, and you
know we worked in this close proximity for four years, for most
of us, and by the end you feel like you can almost predict how
you are going to have to work together in often tense
situations. So I’m not sure that there are many other places
where the set of circumstances of both having really intense
things to work on like tax reform, and Education for a
Lifetime, a small group of people with this four year window.
“We had a very intense Governor who
wanted to make everything hap
I first met Suzette in Charlottesville
when we were starting our careers in public services. I hired
her as the city’s budget analyst. She was very good at it,
one of the great number crunchers of all time. When Mike Amyx
called me as a reference for Suzette’s first job at VML,
I told him she was fantastic at numbers, but wasn’t sure
about her people skills. Boy was I wrong. She can do the
numbers, but she is by far one of the most engaging, respected,
and delightful relationship builders I know.
- Bob Stripling
Staunton City Manager
Staunton City Manager
