Warrenton Town Council on Wednesday appointed Finance Director Stephanie Miller as acting town manager while officials seek an interim and permanent replacement.
The council voted unanimously to support the appointment and hire a recruiting firm to find an interim town manager who will serve until the position can be permanently filled.
Miller said there isn’t money budgeted for a search firm, so the council will likely have to approve an allocation in December.
Miller has been the town’s finance director since February 2013. It’s unclear if the acting town manager role will come with a boost in her salary during her tenure.
Mayor Carter Nevill said the terms of her appointment protect her from being dismissed from employment by the council. If there is a conflict, she would only revert back to her current position as finance director.
The move comes after the council voted 4-3 to abruptly fire Town Manager Frank Cassidy last month. Cassidy was appointed interim town manager in 2023 and hired to fill the post on a permanent basis in December 2023. Officials have not provided a reason for the termination.
The firing brought out a crowd of residents for public comment at Wednesday’s meeting, sharply criticizing the councilmembers who voted to terminate Cassidy. Residents and former councilmembers asked the council to bring Cassidy back and said staff morale had plummeted.
“This Town Council has been made a joke,” said former Ward 1 Councilmember Heather Sutphin. “Firing Frank was the worst thing you have ever done.”
Amelia Stansell, a former president of the Greater Warrenton Chamber of Commerce, said the firing was “a serious mistake.”
“It seems Warrenton has slipped back to an era of cronyism and division that many of us thought was long gone,” she said.
The council also voted to seek an interim replacement for Town Attorney Chap Petersen. Petersen, a former longtime member of the Virginia General Assembly, chose not to renew his contract after a councilmember suggested replacing him. His contract ends Dec. 31.
The council wants to find an interim replacement for Petersen by Jan. 1 and one for Cassidy by Jan. 31.
Nevill said it’s important to get a replacement for Cassidy by February so Miller can focus on crafting the budget for fiscal 2027, which starts July 1. The budgeting process typically starts in the first quarter of the year.
“Her financial hat needs to be her primary hat as we move outside of February,” Nevill said. “So I would hopefully like to have her seat filled by the end of January so she can focus on her primary needs as we have a challenging budget coming forward.”
link