Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 4, 1993 TAG: 9311090307
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
He waited 17 years to become Roanoke's finance director Sept. 27.
And when his chance came, the circumstances were not what he would have liked. He worried that his long wait might have been for naught, because he was Joel Schlanger's top assistant.
Grisso had reason to worry.
Some City Council members wondered privately whether he had known that Schlanger charged $1,788 in personal long-distance calls to the city.
Grisso didn't know about the calls, but he knew it was logical for council members to wonder.
``The circumstances surrounding Joel's resignation didn't put me in the best light,'' he said. ``Your first reaction is, if you've got a bad apple in the barrel, then the whole barrel is bad.''
Some council members raised the issue directly with him.
``I had concerns about the whole situation,'' Councilman James Harvey said. Harvey met with Grisso for two hours to discuss the calls and came away convinced that he didn't know.
Councilman Delvis ``Mac'' McCadden said he, too, was concerned about Grisso's relationship with Schlanger, but his concerns were allayed in council's interview with him.
``Even if you know something, it's not always easy to blow the whistle on your boss,'' McCadden said.
Grisso, 48, would have preferred that Schlanger had left under different circumstances. But that didn't diminish his desire for the job when it came open.
He first applied for the post in 1976, when former Finance Director A.N. Gibson resigned to take a job in Norfolk. Grisso was assistant municipal auditor then and was only 31.
Schlanger, a former state budget director in Vermont, got the job. Soon after arriving in Roanoke, Schlanger hired Grisso and appointed him deputy finance director in 1978.
Grisso said he had a good working relationship with Schlanger.
``[Schlanger] took care of the administrative matters of finance, and he let me do the technical aspects,'' he said.
``When we put in new accounting and payroll systems and other new systems, I would write them up, make them work, and then he would sell them to council.''
Grisso made many of the tax-revenue forecasts that were amazingly accurate and enabled Roanoke to avoid the serious financial problems that recently have plagued many localities.
``I did the original projections, and I would review them with him,'' he said. ``I also developed a new retirement system for city employees.''
That proved to be an asset when council members chose Schlanger's successor.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles said council was aware Grisso had done much of the legwork for the financial forecasts and played a key role in keeping city finances on target.
``He did a good job as deputy director and as acting finance director,'' Bowles said. ``We evaluated them with a rating system, and he came out ahead of all the applicants.
''Council hired an executive-search company to seek out applicants. It received more than 50 applications and interviewed five finalists, including several from out of state.
Harvey believes it is a good policy to promote from within if there is a top assistant who is qualified.
``In my opinion, he was the logical one to get the job,'' Harvey said. ``In almost a year as acting finance director, he showed he could handle the job.''
McCadden said Grisso's familiarity with the city budget and his smooth working relationship with council helped him win the post.
Grisso did not start out to be a finance director.
The son of a Norfolk & Western Railway supervisor, he was born in Roanoke in the old Lewis-Gale Hospital, which was across the street from the Municipal Building.
He grew up in Bluefield, W.Va., where he enrolled at Bluefield College after high school.
Grisso quickly found he wasn't ready for college, so he joined the Air Force and became an aircraft maintenance supervisor. He was stationed in Texas, South Carolina and Germany before he was sent to Vietnam for a year.
He enjoyed his tour, but he said he learned one of the benefits of having a college degree - the difference between being an enlisted man and a second lieutenant.
Out of the Air Force after four years, he went back to Bluefield College and became interested in accounting and business. He finished the junior college curriculum at Bluefield in 18 months and transferred to Virginia Tech, where he got a bachelor's degree in accounting.
Grisso worked for a national accounting firm for three years before he became an assistant municipal auditor for the city in 1974.
Because of his experience in auditing, Grisso supports changes in the city's financial system, including the new controls on phone calls, to prevent abuses such as Schlanger's.
All city employees now keep a long-distance call log, recording who was called and why, which is checked with the monthly bill. The city's phone service costs $1.3 million a year, including about $100,000 for long-distance calls.
During the Schlanger controversy, there was talk of putting the finance director under the city manager's supervision. But council members decided to keep the post separate to serve as a check and balance over finances, a decision Grisso supports. He will report directly to council, just as Schlanger did.
Council members said they have faith in Grisso's ability and integrity without the need for daily supervision by the city manager.
Said Harvey: ``I think he can handle the job. I have no doubt about that.''
\ JAMES GRISSO FINANCE DIRECTOR
Age: 48.
Hometown: Born in Roanoke; grew up in Bluefield, W.Va.
Education: Bluefield College and Virginia Tech. Bachelor's degree in accounting.
Professional Career: Accountant with a national accounting firm, assistant municipal auditor for Roanoke, deputy finance director and finance director.
Family: Married, with a 13-year-old daughter.
Hobbies: Fishing and hunting deer, turkey and other game.
Quote: "I think Roanoke is going to see slow economic growth over the next few years. The reopening of Hotel Roanoke will give us a boost, but growth will still be slow."
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB