Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 28, 1990 TAG: 9006280200
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the supervisors said they weren't trying to out-bid Prince William County, where Hodge is one of three finalists for the job of county executive.
After a late-night executive session, the supervisors raised Hodge's pay from $82,500 to $92,000 a year and approved a $5,000 additional benefit that he can use for deferred compensation, life insurance or retirement savings.
Chairman Dick Robers and Supervisors Steve McGraw and Bob Johnson voted in favor of the raise. Supervisor Harry Nickens was absent. Supervisor Lee Eddy abstained.
Eddy explained that he would like to have had the chance to compare Hodge's salary with other government administrators' salaries in the region. He questioned the first-time offering of the additional $5,000 benefit. And he said he was concerned about the effect such a large raise might have on the morale of other employees.
The job in Prince William County will pay from $85,000 to $110,000 a year. But McGraw said Hodge told the supervisors, "Don't try to out-bid Prince William County."
Hodge has said pay wasn't a factor in his decision to apply for that job.
He and two other finalists still were awaiting a decision by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, which was to hold a special meeting Wednesday night "to discuss a contract package - what we're going to offer to whom," Chairman Robert Cole said.
"I'm still under consideration," Hodge said Wednesday before leaving for the Virginia Local Government Managers Association's annual meeting in Virginia Beach.
"I don't know whether they're close to making an offer. They're doing a very thorough job of checking references, financial background, that type of thing."
But one of Hodge's rivals for the job has been discussing an employment contract with the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
"I wouldn't consider it an offer yet," said James Mullen, the deputy city manager of Aurora, Colo.
But Mullen said his discussions with the supervisors were continuing.
A third finalist, Gary Gwyn, the city manager of Tyler, Texas, said he recently had talked with the Atlanta job-search consultant hired by the supervisors, but not with the supervisors themselves.
"I have high hopes that within a week we're going to make an announcement," Cole said.
The supervisors interviewed about 10 applicants, including Hodge, in April and earlier this month.
"Everyone we interviewed this time was very, very impressive," Cole said. "We asked some damn tough questions. . . . Anyone who's a finalist, it's certainly a credit to them."
The supervisors were impressed with Hodge and his leadership style, he said.
But he wouldn't comment on where Hodge ranked among the three finalists or whether Mullen was the front-runner.
Hodge, 46, has been Roanoke County administrator since November 1985. Before that, he was an assistant administrator in Chesterfield County.
Mullen has been the deputy city manager in Aurora four years. Aurora, a suburb on the east side of Denver, has a population of 230,000 - about the same as Prince William County and three times larger than Roanoke County. It's a bedroom community for Denver, but has a growing military and high-tech employment base of its own, Mullen said.
Tyler, population 82,000, used to be the management and financial heart of the east Texas oil fields, Gwyn said. Before the recession in the oil industry, Tyler was booming. But now, property values have gone flat and government employment has been cut.
Still, Tyler is the largest commercial rose-growing area in the United States and has major tire and air conditioner manufacturers, he said.
by CNB