I’ve covered enough of these meetings now to know that any time Roanoke city manager Darlene Burcham says “let me be candid” then it’s gonna be good.

This happened again last Friday during city council’s budget workshop, one of the last, if not *the* last, workshops Burcham will run.

Council had just finished up hearing about all the program reductions it had authorized during the FY 2010 (about 9.3 million dollars worth) so the city wouldn’t go bankrupt.

Then it came up.

City employees.

There was half-joking, half-consternation remarks by a few council members on how they’ve been getting calls from angry constituents on the fact there was still snow on some city sidewalks.

That’s when I could tell Burcham had something to say.

That’s when the “if I can be candid” remark left her lips.

Burcham reminded council that at previous meetings she had commended the police department for searching a landfill for three-year-old Aveion Lewis’s body.

And that she recognized the public works department for having some employees skip days off and work endless hours of overtime plowing snow after two major winter storm events since December 18th.

“And I didn’t hear any one of you [the ‘you’ in which she was referring was city council members] say one word” to thank city employees for their efforts, Burcham said.

Every member of council sat silent.

The meeting moved on.

But the message was delivered.

Now some of you might think, “of course Burcham’s going to scold council, she’s leaving next week.”

But I’ve heard her tell council what it needed to hear before.

I find it funny how a city manager some employees are so quick to hate was sometimes the only person defending them during city council meetings.

Darlene Burcham will move on on March 1st.

I’m sure council members will say nice things and deliver warm good-byes.

But it’s not going to be the same covering Roanoke City Council in the future.

Because one interesting person will be gone.