“There is no rush to refill her position until the start of the new season,” says Farrar, adding that between now and then he expects the city will have “strategic discussion” about the future direction of the market.

There has been some informal discussion, says Rouse, about the city’s role in overseeing the 300-year-old market, and whether it makes more sense to privatize or create some sort of public-private entity that controls its day-to-day operations.

There has been no official discussion within City Hall regarding a new structure of any sort, Farrar says.

Rouse says she enjoyed working in Richmond, adding that her biggest contribution was improving the market’s internal structure. She replaced Kathy Emerson, who managed the market for six years, in the spring of 2004. — Scott Bass

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