Photos by ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham (left) joined council members for portions of Monday evening's council meeting.

ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham (center) leaves a closed-door council meeting Monday evening. Council members said last week they were considering a fall date for the end of Burcham's tenure, but they settled on a spring date instead.

Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham will retire in March.

The decision was made for her by Roanoke City Council members, who on Monday made the announcement after a lengthy closed-door meeting. Council members acknowledged last week that they were considering a fall date for the end to her tenure.

In public remarks, Burcham said she appreciated the chance to work a little longer.

"It's always difficult to get closure and to decide when something ends," Burcham said. "But there are clearly some projects I feel very responsible for and appreciate the opportunity to finish those out and learn how to let go, which obviously is something that needs to happen. It's clear from the conversation that council believes it is time for someone new or someone different."

Burcham, 64, said she hadn't even contemplated retirement before it came up.

Councilwoman Gwen Mason, chairwoman of the council's personnel committee, announced Burcham's retirement during public remarks after the closed session.

"Council has accepted her retirement date and looks forward to starting a transition process very quickly and working to set our criteria for a new city manager," Mason said.

Burcham, one of five council-appointed city officials, is Roanoke's seventh city manager and earns more than $173,000 annually. She was the first city manager pushed out by the council since Byron Haner, who served from 1973 to 1977.

Burcham said the council's decision indicated "a desire for a change."

"The city manager serves at the pleasure of the city council," Burcham said. "It's the only council-appointed position that doesn't have a term or contract. I've teasingly said life is a 4-3 vote and at any time the council can make a decision they want a change.

"I think the fact they're allowing me to be part of that change and finish up some things is also good for me and I think it'll be good for the city."

Mayor David Bowers said Burcham's retirement was a "mutual decision of her and Roanoke City Council."

Although Bowers has in elections past called for Burcham's ouster, he said he couldn't even recall one disagreement with her since starting his current term nearly a year ago.

Bowers characterized Monday's announcement as "a good conclusion," but the road to get there seemed rocky. Some council members were quietly calling for her to step down as early as last summer.

The discussion of Burcham's future was delayed because of the deepening national recession and declining revenues heading into the 2009-10 budget-writing process. But last week, council members said that a majority was in favor of ending her tenure.

Monday's meeting to conduct Burcham's annual performance review was closed to reporters. Twice, council members took breaks. Burcham joined the council for about 15 minutes before she walked out with three council members, who shortly returned to the meeting without her.

About an hour later she rejoined the closed meeting, which continued for an additional half-hour before council members filed into the chambers to make several board appointments and announce Burcham's retirement.

"We went back and forth on dates," Vice Mayor Sherman Lea said later. "I think you've got to make a decision and go with it."

Lea also expressed frustration with his peers: "My position is, this is a weak group of council colleagues. As someone who's been on and been through and worked with a number of people, this is a weak group."

He declined to elaborate.

Burcham started her government career as a social worker in the 1960s but moved quickly into management. She spent time as Hampton's director of social services; James City County's assistant county administrator and acting county administrator; and Norfolk's director of human services, and then its deputy and assistant city manager.

The Roanoke City Council voted 4-2 to hire Burcham in 1999 after an eight-month search to replace Bob Herbert.

She started work on one of her biggest Roanoke accomplishments even before she moved to the city, helping influence the decision to locate what has become Carilion Clinic's Riverside Center along South Jefferson Street and Reserve Avenue.

Burcham's hands-on, attention-to-detail managerial style -- which included a number of personnel and system changes in the municipal government -- won her praise early on but has drawn much criticism in more recent years.

In two different municipal elections, council candidates ran on platforms that included her firing. She even survived the debate over and eventual demolition of Victory Stadium, which contributed to the demise of more than one council career.

Members of the current council, however, have bristled under Burcham's administration. In September, Councilman Court Rosen complained when city administrators refused his request to provide a document for review before a vote on it. Mason blamed the "strong city manager" form of government for the problem.

Although the problem eventually was resolved, it's clear that the council wants to play a greater role in running Roanoke.

"Clearly, the council is more interested in taking a more active part," Burcham said. "I think we've been responsive to that, but it is of course the council's decision."

Burcham also was asked if she was disappointed with the way the process played out.

"I'm disappointed that there was a public opportunity in advance of a private discussion," Burcham responded, referencing news stories that ran last week.

"Sometimes those of you with these cameras and pens don't let people alone so that they can in fact have some privacy. And as I've said, I've had my picture taken enough today."