It is with great sadness that I learned today that Mayor Marvin Gillum has passed. It’s still early and I have a lot of thoughts on this but I’m still forming them. At this point, I’ll simply offer this: The real measure of that man is the number and diversity of the people who knew him and held him in very high regard. He really was a gentle giant in our community and he’ll be missed.
I know that many folks have their stories about the Mayor and I’ll relate a couple here: I met the Mayor a pretty long time ago and he was always, in my eyes, an authority figure. The guy had done everything, what did I call him? Doctor? Mayor? Chairman?. I wasn’t sure so I went with “Sir”. I never served with him on the Council but I did solicit his support and endorsement when I ran. I was pretty nervous about it but he was pretty steady about it and it wasn’t a big deal. He was very gracious and made it pretty easy for me.
Honestly, I’ve got a bunch more but my favorite story is from Steve Randolph. I’ll probably botch it so I’ll look to Steve to fix it but there was a tough vote coming up for the Council when Marvin was Mayor. I recall that it was a large capital project like the Pavillion. The supporters of the project, including Mayor Gillum, had been lobbying for approval and thought they had the votes lined up. The night of the vote came and, after everyone had said their piece, someone made the motion and it was seconded. Now, there’s kind of an unwritten rule on most legislative bodies that, on a contentious issue, when a motion is finally made that the heat subsides and the vote goes with a minimum of fuss. Always remember that you have to work with your colleagues tomorrow to get the people’s business done. In any event, the motion is made and seconded. Mayor Gillum, appropriately, asked if there was any comment; very likely with the expectation that there wouldn’t be any. Steve raised his hand and started to speak some more. He recalls that he could just see about half the Mayors face but that his right eyebrow arched slightly. This was warning enough and Randolph thought better of continuing and clapped his mouth shut.
Kind of a long story but that’s the power a leader has and Marvin had it in spades. Godspeed.
January 21, 2010 at 8:14 pm
He was a great man indeed. I feel blessed to have known him. He will be greatly missed.
January 22, 2010 at 2:21 pm
While the City of Manassas operates under what
is commonly called a “weak mayor system”
(no vote except in case of a tie, no veto, no authority
to hire or fire, etc.) we have been blessed with
extraordinary people in that office who were/are
anything but weak. Though intelligence, hard work
and obvious dedication to Manassas citizens and good
government they gained a strong leadership role not
expressed in a charter, but by the respect of the
community. Mayor Gillum was a prime example of that
process.
January 22, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Mayor Gillum was as genuine as it gets, he will be missed, he exemplified what a mayor should be, he loved this city as much as the people of the city loved him. I can remember his speech as he left his office in the Harris Pavilion, a train decided during his speech to stop in old town and start changing cars, completely interrupting him, instead of getting angry he just took the time to explain to the audience that trains are part of what made this town what it is today, true Gillum Fashion. I will take the lessons he taught us with me forever.
January 24, 2010 at 10:06 am
A great man for our City and a great example set. He is missed.
January 24, 2010 at 1:44 pm
I first met Mayor Gillum down at the first Railroad Festival years ago. He was walking around, walking up to introduce himself to folks. My first impression was he was what you expect from your Mayor – out where the people are, talking with them, listening. And being an Army Sergeant, I immediately sensed he was a fine leader.
Even after leaving office, he was still being a community leader.