RICHMOND - Safer neighborhoods. Better schools. And a more responsive city administration. Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones says he has the man who will help him achieve all those things.

Richmond City Council approved Byron Marshall as the city's new chief administrative officer during a special session Wednesday night. Marshall will serve as the mayor's right-hand man.

Marshall comes to the river city from Austin, TX, where he's served as the president of that city's revitalization authority.

By all accounts, he was Mayor Jones' first choice.