"Your call is being answered by Audix. No one is home at the City of Richmond right now. Please call back in November. Have a great day!"

I was all set to gush about how great it was to see Mayor Wilder, sportive goatee and all, chatting amiably (for the cameras) with City Council President Bill Pantele. Maybe we could avoid yet another testosterone-driven law suit and finally have a City budget that everyone accepts as legitimate -- hopefully one that provides City retirees with their deserved cost of living increase. Forking over a lofty 1.5 percent bump shouldn't bankrupt even the strapped City of Richmond, and hardly begins to match the substantial boosts in living costs we've all experienced during the past year.

Then Sheila Hill-Christian had to come along and spoil it all by mysteriously leaving City Hall and her post as the City's chief administrative officer. Just because she couldn't do her job properly! How selfish is that! If the inability to perform a job to one's satisfaction was grounds for resignation, millions of Americans would pour onto the streets. In most workplaces, it's precisely that inability that binds employees together, regardless of the colors of their collars.

Besides, Ms. Hill-Christian had only a few months to go before the end of Mayor Wilder's term. She could have gracefully bowed out then or, if difficulties with her senior office mates really were so untenable, hope that a new occupant in City Hall would bring a fresher day with him. Given her background, it's hard to imagine the next Mayor of Richmond not being interested in retaining her services in a meaningful leadership position.

If, on the other hand, she wanted to pursue another opportunity, Ms. Hill-Christian almost certainly could have taken the high road in departing.  Even if she did not want to announce specifics of a new gig, she simply could have taken the time-honored "11th hour" route, announcing her departure in the waning days of the Wilder mayoralty, saying the timing was right, wishing everyone well, etc.

She did wish everyone well; after all, this is Richmond, land of good manners. Here is the text of her departure statement:

"Recently I had the opportunity to share with a group of city employees the definition of leadership. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs a team or organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills.

"In every position I have accepted I have given my all to live up to that definition.  When my ability to do so is compromised, I believe it is in my personal best interest, and the interest of taxpayers to move on.

"I am going to take the opportunity in the next chapter of my life to give back more to the community.  I believe I can use all that I have learned over the years to coach emerging leaders and to work collaboratively on non-profit and private sector initiatives.

"I would like to thank everyone for their support and to apologize to those I've disappointed.  Best wishes and Godspeed to all city employees."

Then, this savvy person, with many years of experience in the public fishbowl that is local and state government, walked, or rather ran, for the doors. And she did so in a way guaranteed to let everyone know that this was exactly what was happening. Very un-Richmond!

When Ms. Hill-Christian agreed last November to leave her post running the Virginia Lottery and come back to what seemed like her 27th job with the City of Richmond, she brought big reputations for credibility and competence, earned over many years of public service. The wonder then was how the mayor had convinced her to take the new post. I, for one, immediately began to look for storm clouds over the Lottery, but we've seen no revelatory lightning or thunder following her departure.

But anyone expecting Ms. Hill-Christian to become the über-denmother of City Hall has been disappointed. Mayor Wilder has continued to feud with the other kids in the City's sandbox, and the string of embarrassing developments about how the City is run have continued. There is the budget flap. There is the Auditor's report that the City print shop is dysfunctional, and that some of its employees spend so much time surfing the Web that they can't fulfill print orders on a timely basis. And there was that spate of scary Richmond personal property tax delinquency notices recently sent to an undisclosed number of vehicle owners. The notices were sent in error. Some even were sent to people who didn't own the vehicle that was wrongly identified as being in arrears on its tax payment.

About the author -- Phil Moeller, a communications consultant with JD Communications, was a columnist and business editor at The Baltimore Sun and Louisville Courier-Journal.