Henrico County Government For Dummies

4 January, 2007. 375 words.

I’ve written this cheat sheet to learn more about my local government.

Summary

Henrico County is divided into five Magesterial Districts. Each district elects a Supervisor every four years, who serves on the five-member Board of Supervisors. The next election is in 2007. The board typically meets twice a month.

The Board of Supervisors elects a chairman each year who “presides at each Board meeting and serves as the official head of the County government.” A vice-chairman is also elected to preside if the chairman cannot. The current Chairman is Brookland District Supervisor Dick Glover. Go Brookland!

What do local governments do? Generally speaking, it’s the exciting world of: Law enforcement, public utilities, libraries, vital statistics records, managing elections, zoning, personal property taxes, building codes, construction permits, local and rural road maintenance, etc.

The Board Of Supervisors

The Henrico County Magesterial Districts, roughly from west to east, with their corresponding Supervisors:

Tuckahoe — Patricia S. O’Bannon
Three Chopt — David A. Daechele
Brookland — Richard W. Glover (chairman)
Fairfield — Frank J. Thornton
Varina — James B. Donati, Jr. (vice-chairman)

The County Manager

The Henrico Board of Supervisors appoints the County Manager, who “carries out the policies determined by the Board of Supervisors, coordinates the business affairs of the County…, and conducts the day-to-day business operations.” This person sounds like a glorified personal assistant and gopher, with a staff.

The School Board

Henrico County Public Schools are governed by the Henrico School Board (a separate entity from the Board of Supervisors), which is also elected every four years. Unlike school districts in other states, Virginia school divisions depend on local government for appropriations and budget approvals.

Fun Factoids

Dick Glover, a Republican, has been the Brookland district Supervisor since 1987. He ran unopposed in at least the 1999 and 2003 elections.
Tuckahoe Supervisor Pat O’Bannon is married to Virginia’s 73rd District Delegate John O’Bannon (Republican).
Henrico County is one of two Virginia counties that maintain their own roads. For reasons beyond the capacity of this writer to understand, this is somehow advantageous to community urban planners.

(Most information extracted from Google searches, Wikipedia, and the Henrico County website.)

Thomas Krehbiel writes The Krehbiel Strikes Back, a generally centrist commentary on news, media, politics, and culture.

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