Richmond to reimburse Henrico for borrowing deputy county manager

Henrico County will be reimbursed by the City of Richmond for the time Deputy County Manager Brandon Hinton spends as the city's acting deputy chief administrative officer for finance for the city, Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas told the Citizen Tuesday.

Vithoulkas and Richmond Mayor Danny Avula announced last week that Henrico would “loan” Hinton to the city for a period of time to assist with its administrative operations, following the unexpected departure of Sabrina Joy-Hogg from her dual roles as interim chief administrative officer and senior deputy CAO of finance and administration. Joy-Hogg's last day with the city is June 6; she's leaving to begin a new role as Newport News’ senior deputy city manager for finance and administration June 16.

For Richmond, Hinton will serve as acting deputy CAO for finance and administration.

Hinton's Richmond stint is expected to last roughly 90 days, according to Vithoulkas. He'll continue to be paid his Henrico salary during that time, and once he returns to the county, Henrico will invoice the city for the time he spent in Richmond, Vithoulkas said.

In Hinton's absence, Henrico's other deputy county managers and Vithoulkas himself will combine to handle his responsibilities in the county.

“We will pick up whatever we need to pick up for that duration,” Vithoulkas said. “Our folks have always risen to the challenge.”

Vithoulkas indicated that Avula's request to borrow Hinton didn't come out of the blue but rather as part of regular discussions.

“The mayor, just like the previous administration, would call from time to time with questions about how we may do certain things,” Vithoulkas said. “With Sabrina's decision to go to Newport News, Danny was really short-handed. The obvious choice who can multitask and who has seen many things over the years, that's Brandon.”