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Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney taps Jon Baliles for post in administration

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Mayor Levar Stoney announced Thursday that Jon Baliles, a former West End City Council representative and mayoral candidate, will return to City Hall to join his administration. 

In his new role – senior policy adviser for innovation – Baliles will seek to “improve the efficiency and accountability of government operations, increase the city’s economic vitality and growth and help chart a course for planning the future of [the city’s] neighborhoods and commercial areas,” according to a city news release. The full-time position pays $85,000 annually, Stoney's spokesman, Jim Nolan, writes in an email. 

Baliles, who represented the West End 1st District on council from 2013 through 2016, dropped out of last year’s crowded mayoral contest and endorsed Stoney days before voters went to the polls. He also served on the new mayor’s transition committee. He previously worked in City Hall under former mayors Dwight Jones and L. Douglas Wilder.

Stoney announced three other hires, as well.

  • Thad Williamson will serve as Stoney’s senior policy adviser for opportunity. In the role, he will seek to bolster “efforts to provide better education and opportunity for our children, and to help lift Richmond out of poverty,” the release states. The position is part-time and pays $44,000, Nolan says. Williamson, a University of Richmond professor, was the first director of the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building. He served as an adviser to Stoney’s mayoral campaign and the director of his transition committee.
  • Lisa Speller-Davis will serve as Stoney’s senior policy adviser for engagement, a position in which she will seek to “ensure all relevant stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute to the development of plans and policies that shape our future,” the release states. The full-time position pays $110,000 annually, Nolan says. Speller-Davis, a registered nurse by trade, worked on Stoney’s mayoral campaign and organized his inaugural festivities last weekend.
  • Rushawna Senior will serve as Stoney’s senior assistant. The full-time position pays $70,000 annually. Senior has previously held posts in Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration and with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. She also served as a drilling reservist in the Army National Guard, the release states.