Cooper, elected chair of Henrico Board of Supervisors, emphasizes his focus on education

The Henrico Board of Supervisors unanimously elected Fairfield District representative Roscoe Cooper as its new chair Jan. 14.

Cooper is the first county official to be elected as both the chair of the board of supervisors and the Henrico School Board (of which he was a member from 2016 to 2024). He also served as vice-chair of the board of supervisors last year.

His time on the school board has entrenched Henrico Schools as one of his biggest focuses as board chair, Cooper said.

“It comes as no surprise that continued investment in the school system is among my top priorities this year,” he said. “Henrico will maintain its position as a pay leader for outstanding teachers while also funding necessary maintenance and school infrastructure projects.”

During the coming year, HCPS will have several major capital projects: the division will begin construction on a new elementary school in the Fairfield District, complete construction on new buildings for Jackson Davis and R.C. Longan elementary schools, and open the first K-12 “Living Building” on Wilton Farm.

Cooper also highlighted affordable housing and public safety infrastructure as two of his other top priorities. Last year, the county approved 271 homes for the Henrico Affordable Housing Trust Fund and began work on 23 miles of new sidewalks and 18 miles of trail pathways – which Cooper said he hopes to build on this year.

“We will continue our efforts to make home ownership in Henrico not just attainable, but affordable,” he said. “Families who could otherwise not afford a home are now establishing roots in Henrico County. And living in Henrico County will become even safer.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the board also celebrated Henrico Chief of Staff Cari Tretina, who was recently appointed as the new executive director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority. 

Tretina, a Henrico native who first started working for the county in 2011 as an intern under now-County Manager John Vithoulkas, has had a “meteoric rise” to the top of county government, said Vithoulkas. 

“I have a very close relationship with Cari that has been forged through difficult times, where creativity requires us to do something that has, many times, never been done by a local government,” Vithoulkas said. “She has done quite a lot for this county.”

The board unanimously elected Three Chopt District supervisor Misty Roundtree as the new vice chair of the board of supervisors and appointed Christopher Phelps as the new Brookland District representative on the Henrico Planning Commission, replacing Bob Witte.

Board members also made a number of other appointments to several county committees, including the EDA Board of Directors, the Henrico Housing Authority Committee, the Keep Henrico Beautiful Committee, and the Sustainability and Resilience Advisory Committee.

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.