Prince William County’s executive and county attorney are leaving their posts in three weeks and Loudoun County’s administrator retired several months ago, leaving the two counties searching for candidates to permanently fill their top administrative positions during trying economic times.
Prince William County Executive Craig Gerhart and County Attorney Ross Horton are stepping down the week of June 30, and Loudoun County Administrator Kirby Bowers retired April 1.
Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart said he had not discussed a potential replacement for Gerhart since his June 3 retirement announcement, but the board was “almost certainly” going to appoint Assistant County Executive Susan Roltsch as the interim county executive. Stewart said Roltsch was not interested in taking the position permanently.
“She’s not in the running, so it won’t seem like a demotion” when she returns to her current position, he said.
Stewart said Prince William would conduct a national search for a permanent replacement, and that the individual would not necessarily have to come from government administration.
“We are certainly not going to be dismissing candidates who come from the private sector,” he said. “I think we certainly do need to look [at] the private sector.”
Neighboring Loudoun County is also trying to replace its former top official, Bowers, who retired from the county to work as the executive director of the Triangle J Council of Governments, which provides regional planning and administrative services for local governments in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. Deputy Administrator Linda Neri is serving as Loudoun’s interim county administrator.
The administrator position is being advertised, and the county has hired Dallas firm Waters Consulting Group to aid in the search. Loudoun is on track to hire someone to start in November or December, county spokesman Jim Barnes said.
Prince William also has to find a replacement for Horton, who announced his retirement last month and will leave June 30. Stewart said Deputy Attorney Angela Lemmon Horan likely would be promoted.
“Next to Ross Horton, she’s the most experienced [county] attorney, she’s excellent, and she likes the job,” he said.
The county executive and county administrator positions both pay in the low $200,000s, and Prince William’s county attorney position pays in the high $100,000s.
