Lynchburg City Manager Bonnie Svrcek has announced her retirement, effective June 30, 2020, capping off a 40-year career in local government. Here is the announcement from the City of Lynchburg:
City Manager Announces Retirement
Lynchburg City Manager Bonnie Svrcek announced her retirement today effective June 30, 2020. Svrcek was appointed to the position by City Council upon the retirement of former City Manager Kimball Payne and following a nationwide search. At the time, she was serving as the City’s Deputy City Manager, a position to which she had been hired to serve in 1999. Svrcek is the first female to serve as City Manager in Lynchburg.
“We are very sorry to lose City Manager Svrcek to retirement,” said Mayor Tweedy. “Bonnie has worked tirelessly to serve our City, and she has been an exceptional City Manager. She has always been a great believer in the Athenian Oath that speaks of public duty and of leaving a city greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us. She should feel a great sense of accomplishment in knowing that she has been successful in doing just that.”
Svrcek said, “Turning the page from a 40-year career in local government is overwhelming but full of incredible memories and joy of making a difference in the four communities I have had the privilege to work in. My husband and I look forward to many more happy and healthy years in Lynchburg. As any City Manager would say, you can only be successful in doing this work when you are surrounded by a work family who believes in public service. Indeed, I am ever grateful for every employee I have worked with as well as the many Constitutional Officers and Council members who give tirelessly of their time and talent to make Lynchburg better every day.”
Prior to coming to Lynchburg, Svrcek served as the Assistant Town Manager in Blacksburg, Virginia from 1990 to 1999. During her tenure with the Town of Blacksburg, she served as the Interim Director of Public Works for nine months, as Interim Director of Finance for nearly a year and Interim Town Manager for four months. She has served as President of the Montgomery County, Radford and Floyd United Way and the Montgomery County Rotary Club. She also served as a Budget Analyst in Fairfax County, Virginia from 1985 to 1990. Prior to her position in Fairfax, she served as a Staff Assistant in Washington, D.C. for the City of Los Angeles.
Svrcek received her B.S. degree in Housing and Applied Design from the University of Maryland and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Southern California, Washington Public Affairs Center. She also attended the Senior Executive Institute in Charlottesville, and in 2011, she attended the State and Local Government Excellence Executive Education at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Svrcek was recognized in 1994 as the Outstanding Assistant Manager in Virginia by the Virginia Local Government Management Association (VLGMA), and was honored with the Athena Woman of Worth Award in September 2006 by the Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce. She served as President of the VLGMA in 2005. She completed a term as a Southeast Region Vice President on the Executive Board of the International City-County Management Association (ICMA) in 2009. In June 2011, Ms. Svrcek was selected President-Elect of ICMA and served a three-year term as President-Elect (2011-2012), President (2012-2013) and Past President (2013-2014).