ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120072
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors is getting closer to naming a successor for retiring County Administrator Betty Thomas.
After a closed session Monday night, the board established a "pecking order" of candidates. The supervisors have interviewed eight semifinalists from about 90 applicants.
One of those applicants, Assistant County Administrator Jeff Lunsford, has withdrawn his name after accepting a job late last week as Louisa County's new administrator.
The supervisors had scheduled a special closed-door meeting for next Monday to decide if they needed a second round of interviews to narrow the search.
"The meeting may or may not occur next Monday, and if it doesn't occur, that means we've found an acceptable candidate," said Joe Gorman, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
Thomas is retiring at the end of March after 16 years as county administrator. The county administrator is the top hired professional in Montgomery's government and answers directly to the Board of Supervisors.
The seven contenders include county Finance Director Carol Edmonds and Robert M. Murphy, the former manager of Poquoson, a small, eastern Virginia city. Murphy resigned last spring after 121/2 years as that city's top administrator rather than wait to be fired by new members of the City Council who were taking office July 1, the Newport News Daily Press reported last year.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB