City Manager's Office
​​​​​​The mission of the City Manager's Office is to provide support and direction for the delivery of quality customer service to Virginia Beach citizens and visitors, City Council, City staff, and others to maintain and nurture a quality community for Virginia Beach.

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David L. Hansen

City Manager

Dave Hansen as City Manager for the City of Virginia Beach, serves as executive and administrative leader of the city government; plans, directs, and coordinates the work of the Deputy City Managers and Department Directors to ensure alignment with City Council's vision.​

Dave's career in financial, technology, infrastructure, and capital improvement management has spanned over three decades. He joined the Virginia Beach government team in April 2006 following his assignment as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Resource Management for the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command headquartered at Fort Monroe. An officer in the U.S. Army, he also held positions as commanding officer and district engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk district; director of public works for Fort Eustis and Fort Story; senior combat engineer trainer at the Army's National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.; engineer battalion commander in the 1st Cavalry Division; and executive officer to the Director of the Army budget at the Pentagon.

Dave holds a Master of Science degree in Strategic Studies and Logistics from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a Master's in Business Administration and Contracting from the Florida Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Central Florida.

Ronald H. Williams, Jr.

Deputy City Manager

Ron oversees the departments of Agriculture, ​Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cultural Affairs Office, Economic Development, Housing & Neighborhood Preservation, and Planning & Community Development.

Ron served as Norfolk's Deputy City Manager directing major capital projects and public-private partnerships such as the Slover Library, the $146 million hotel and conference center, the Norfolk Premium Outlets, and the Norfolk Amtrak Station.

Prior to becoming their Deputy City Manager, Ron held many other positions in the City of Norfolk, gaining experience to lead him to where he is today.  He was their Director of Budget Management & Grants, the Special Assistant to the City Manager, Acting Grants Director, and Director of Intergovernmental Relations.

He was awarded the 2016 Julian F. Hirst Award for Distinguished Service from the American Society for Public Administration–Hampton Roads Chapter.

​Ron holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the Virginia Military Institute and has a master's degree in Business Administration from Regent University. 

Kenneth L. Chandler

Deputy City Manager

Ken Chandler has 27 years of executive level public sector experience in diverse communities including Richmond, Arlington County, Dallas, TX, Portsmouth and, most recently, the District of Columbia.  He oversees the departments of Human Services, Libraries, Parks & Recreation, Human Resources, Public Health and Aquarium & Historic Houses as well as the offices of STiR and ​Volunteer Resources.

Ken earned a Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Regent University, a Master of Public Administration from Old Dominion University and a BA from Morehouse College. He is an International City Manager's Association (ICMA) Credentialed Manager and is a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Tom Leahy

Deputy City Manager

Tom Leahy oversees the departments of Public Works, Public Utilities, Communications and Information Technology, Management Services, and Finance.  

Before assuming the Deputy City Manager position, Tom was the Director of Public Utilities which provides water and sewer service for more than 425,000 people.  Before that, he was the Water Resources Manager during which time he was Project Manager for a $150 million pipeline project to transfer 60 million gallons of water per day from Lake Gaston to southeast Virginia.

Before joining the City in 1980, Tom worked for Dow Chemical and IBM in the research and development of reverse osmosis desalting membranes and purification of water for the electronics industry.  He has four decades of experience in the public water and wastewater industry.

​Tom has a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia and a Master's of Public Administration from Old Dominion University.

​He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Virginia, a member of the American Water Works Association, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the American Membrane Technology Association.

Tom moved to Virginia Beach in 1966 when his father was assigned to the Northwest Radio Transmitter Station in Chesapeake.  He graduated from Kellam High School, as did his daughter, Jennifer and son, Thomas.  He lives with his wife, Pam in the Nimmo-Sandbridge section of Virginia Beach.

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Steven R. Cover

Deputy City Manager

Steve Cover serves as the Deputy City Manager of Public Safety, overseeing the Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, and Emergency Communications & Citizen Services departments in addition to the Office of Emergency Management. 

Prior to becoming a Deputy City Manager, Steve held the position of Fire Chief with the Virginia Beach Fire Department where he served for over 39 years.  He began his career as a Junior Volunteer Firefighter at the age of sixteen.  He was the first Fire Chief that held every rank in the department, operating in many roles throughout his career.  He was an original member of the Tidewater Regional Technical Rescue Team, the Virginia Beach Technical Rescue Program and the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team.  He has deployed on many disasters across the U.S. including the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Pentagon on 9-11 and several major hurricanes.  He has been very active in the Fire Service community at the local, regional, state and federal levels.

A life-long resident of Virginia Beach, Steve graduated from First Colonial High School.  He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Troy State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Administration from Hampton University.  He has completed the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy, the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Executive Leadership Program in Homeland Defense at the Naval Postgraduate School.
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