Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 26, 1992 TAG: 9203260317
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Shoot, he even served a year more than he promised.
"I never really perceived myself as a career government official anyway," says the 37-year-old Williamson, who announced last week that he is quitting as Botetourt's administrator in April after six years.
He is taking a job as director of rates and finance for Roanoke Gas Co. - a move back to private industry Williamson says he always knew he would take when the right offer came along.
It was a unique set of circumstances that brought him back to local government in the first place, after having once been Virginia's youngest county manager, before he left public service for a more lucrative career in big business.
In 1985, he was on the fast track as a financial whiz for C&P Telephone in Charleston, W.Va. He had bought a house and started a family and, at 31, was on his way up in the corporation.
He thought his government service was far behind him.
Previously, Williamson had served almost two years as an assistant county administrator in his native Bedford County and another two years as the county administrator in Nelson County.
When he was hired in Nelson County in 1979, the 24-year-old Williamson became the youngest county administrator in Virginia at the time.
Williamson left Nelson in 1981 to pursue a master's degree in business administration at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. He then took up with C&P, first in Richmond and then in West Virginia.
But in 1985, his father's health started to decline rapidly. Fast track or not, Williamson decided to return to the Roanoke Valley, his desire to spend some final time with his 86-year-old father winning out over Williamson's career ambition.
He took a beating on his newly purchased house in Charleston, but otherwise has never regretted the move. He got to spend about 10 months with his father, who lived where Williamson was reared near Montvale in Bedford County. He also was able to help his mother through a difficult time.
"If I had been working a state away, I wouldn't have been able to do those things," he says now.
Plus, Williamson says he wanted to return to his native region, knowing that with C&P future promotions likely would have meant moving to Philadelphia or Washington, cities where he was reluctant to rear a family.
His first daughter, Meghan, was 2 at the time.
Fortunately, Botetourt County was looking then for a new administrator, and the Board of Supervisors hired Williamson over 87 other applicants.
He moved to a small farm nestled strategically between the county seat, Fincastle, and two of Botetourt's larger communities, Buchanan and Troutville.
He also promised the supervisors five years of service.
Hired in January 1986, he stayed six. "Although I will confess that after I met my moral commitment, I began looking around some," he says.
Many people in Botetourt, from his staffers to elected officials to community leaders, say they feel lucky to have had Williamson around at all, much less for six years.
By all accounts, Williamson has always been considered a higher-caliber administrator than a mostly rural county like Botetourt normally would be able to attract. And often, there was speculation about how long he would stay, despite his five-year promise.
County Attorney Buck Heartwell, who served with three previous administrators, says Williamson brought Botetourt a new stature in the Roanoke Valley as a dynamic local government.
"He has given us a real credible voice," Heartwell said.
Roanoke County Administrator Elmer Hodge agreed. He says Williamson matched well with Botetourt's budding progressive outlook, coming along just when the Board of Supervisors wanted to make some changes in how the county was run.
"His whole focus always has been: Let's find a way," Hodge said.
Some highlights of Williamson's tenure include:
Building Botetourt's first county-owned industrial park and assisting in the developing of three other private industrial centers.
Attracting a number of major businesses to the county, including Tweeds Inc., Davis H. Elliot Co. Inc., Capco Inc., and VFP Inc., among some other smaller firms.
Establishing a non-adversarial budget and planning process with the School Board and purchasing property for a future school in Cloverdale.
Constructing a new general district courthouse in Fincastle.
Providing sewer service to communities in Eagle Rock, Coyner Springs, parts of Cloverdale and the Camp 25 state correctional unit in Troutville.
Imposing a county meals tax.
Williamson says he chose to leave now because the right offer came along. Financially, he believes the pay and long-term benefits at Roanoke Gas will be much better than what he could earn in local government.
"And to be honest with you, I think I'll live longer."
Although he says public service is rewarding, he also says it comes with little public appreciation. He says he is tired of getting telephone calls in the middle of the night and dealing with the other headaches of the job.
In addition, he has become increasingly frustrated with the state and federal bureaucracies, he says. Particular peeves are their more stringent - and costly - landfill requirements and the "unyielding" position of the state to demand more from local government in providing services, but without providing the money to do so.
Williamson's last day as Botetourt's administrator will be April 14. He will continue living in the county with his wife, Marilee, and their daughters, Meghan, now 8, and Corrie, 5.
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB