THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9412310126
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Long : 197 lines
WHEN WALTER DOUGLAS CASKEY was growing up in Charlotte, N.C., he had all the interests any little boy would have: school, sports, friends, family.
But Caskey also had an unusual and keen interest in something his playmates probably never noticed: the growth of his city.
``Charlotte was a very dynamic city even in the '50s and '60s,'' Caskey said recently. ``I had the ability to watch it go through many changes. Watching that growth and seeing the amenities the city offered really had a very positive effect on me, on my interest and understanding of various activities that make up an area people identify with as being their place of residence.''
That was then.
Now, Caskey's place contrasts sharply to where he grew up.
Charlotte, the nation's third-largest banking center, has a population of 443,611.
Isle of Wight County's population is about 25,000.
Charlotte has major league sports franchises in basketball and football and minor league teams in baseball and hockey.
Isle of Wight is lucky to have the Septa Bowmen, a private archery club in a remote corner of the landscape.
Charlotte's airport is the 22nd largest nationwide.
Isle of Wight has a small airstrip in Orbit.
But the big-city boy, over the past seven years, has settled easily into the country.
And in mid-December, Caskey, 45, slipped easily into the county administrator's seat, taking over when his friend and associate for more than 20 years, Myles Standish, moved to Suffolk to take over as city manager there.
For members of the Board of Supervisors, the decision wasn't difficult. It was a natural transition, one board member said. Caskey, assistant county administrator at the time, was appointed acting administrator in November, when Standish resigned. On Dec. 15, the supervisors voted unanimously to remove the word ``acting.''
``When you have an individual already on board who has done a good job, you move forward,'' said Henry Bradby, who has represented the Rushmere District for years and has been through his share of administrators. ``The entire board seemed to think Caskey as soon as Standish resigned.''
The supervisors decided not to advertise the position outside the county because of the opportunity they saw to promote from within, other board members agreed.
``Our position was - we wanted to look internally,'' Carrsville Supervisor Phillip Bradshaw said. ``We didn't have to pay thousands of dollars for a search. Promotion from within allows a smooth transition. It also allows us the opportunity to streamline our government offices.''
Caskey, who was preparing to leave on a week's vacation to return home to Charlotte last week, said he was eager to get started.
``This county has a great deal of potential in terms of becoming a major component in greater Hampton Roads,'' he said. ``We've got to get the word out to the region and throughout the state that this county has a lot to offer. The same things that attract a family here should attract industrial and commercial development.''
Lud Lorenzo Spivey, Windsor District representative who formerly served on the county's Planning Commission, said he feels the supervisors were looking mostly at Caskey's education and experience when they confirmed him for the post.
``He's done an excellent job as assistant county administrator,'' Spivey said. ``The county won national recognition for its comprehensive plan. I think Doug, certainly, was responsible for that. He is qualified for the job educationally and from the standpoint of experience. From the standpoint of continuity, he was the only choice.''
Caskey was educated in the Charlotte Public Schools. During most of his childhood, he said, his mother was a stay-at-home mom and housewife. Later, she became cafeteria manager at the elementary school directly across the street from their house.
Caskey's 85-year-old father, a retired roofing company supervisor, still lives in Charlotte with Caskey's stepmother. His only brother manages a retail tire company there. And Caskey still feels the ties that bind.
``The city gave me an interest in my sense of place,'' he said. ``I always had an interest in seeing the city grow, seeing new things develop, trying to figure out why things were being located where they were. I don't really know why I had such an interest, but certainly, even as a child, it developed a consciousness as to what really made everything tick.''
That's why, when Caskey entered East Carolina College - before it became a university - after he graduated from high school, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
``I declared a major on the first day,'' he said. ``I majored in geography. At the time, the college did not have an urban planning program. After I'd been there a couple of years, East Carolina established an urban regional planning program. By the time I graduated in 1973, the accredited degree had just come into play. My degree is in geography with a minor in urban regional planning.''
Caskey graduated in midyear and, in April, he landed a position as an assistant planner with the Western Piedmont Planning District Commission in Martinsville.
``That, essentially, is where I cut my teeth on real world planning,'' he said.
He helped to develop comprehensive land use plans for Henry County, Pittsylvania County and the town of Rocky Mount, all part of that planning district commission. He assisted in writing zoning and subdivision ordinances.
After about a year and a half, a man he worked with in Martinsville went to work for the city of Portsmouth. He called Caskey when he learned about a job opening at a local consulting firm.
``I had an interest in the private sector,'' Caskey said. ``I was hired as a project planner. We worked on projects for municipalities and for private clients. That's where I got into grant administration.''
And he used that knowledge when he moved on to work as a planner with the city of Suffolk.
``That was when I was first introduced to being on the front line in local government,'' Caskey said. ``I had always felt more comfortable in the background.''
Caskey worked in Suffolk from 1976 until the fall of 1987, and he got to know Myles Standish.
``Doug was the city planner and I was an analyst,'' Standish said. ``I later became assistant city manager. It's no secret that Doug was then and is now an acknowledged expert in growth issues. Recruiting Doug when I moved to Isle of Wight was the one of two or three most intelligent things I've done in my entire career.''
Standish said when he first moved to Isle of Wight, the supervisors charged him with building a competent, professional staff. One of the first issues he said he observed was that he needed to know how to prepare the county for the kind of growth that already was occurring in greater Hampton Roads.
``I knew I had to get good, professional help to come to the county to help me understand what the issues were and to develop recommendations for the board,'' he said. ``I have always respected Doug's professionalism and his expertise. And I respect his desire to help people.''
Caskey's rapport with people was one of the biggest advantages Bradshaw said he saw in the new county administrator.
``Doug values people as our most important asset,'' Bradshaw said. ``That's a vital asset in itself. He is a very outgoing person, a good communicator. This should be a smooth transition, and our citizens should expect to see our government very open.''
Mac Cofer, vice chairman of the Board of Supervisors, agreed.
``We'll see a difference in leadership style,'' Cofer said. ``I think Doug will be more available. He has a strong people-ability, both in dealing with the county staff and with the general public. And his background in planning and zoning is going to help with the growth that is coming to this county.''
The growth issue is the biggest challenge Caskey said he sees in his new position.
``It's a challenge; certainly, it's a challenge,'' he said. ``This area faces the same opportunities any area faces. How we manage economic development and attract new industry is very important. We must develop a broader employment base. That has started and must continue. We obviously want the best schools our tax dollars can afford. We need to very efficiently plan and project how the county can provide opportunities.''
The county has started in the right direction, Caskey said. The comprehensive plan paves the way. It will be up to the leaders of the county to follow the plan.
``Is the county going to become merely a bedroom community?'' Caskey asked. ``No, we're not, because we can't afford to. This county needs to recognize its own opportunities.''
And who better to help the county recognize those opportunities than a man who grew up watching a city grow? A man who recognizes Isle of Wight's potential and is experienced in developing and directing?
The supervisors agreed there probably was nobody better for the job.
``Doug will do an excellent job,'' Spivey said.
And Caskey already is planning how he's going to live up to the predictions.
``I think the county today is a much more legitimate piece of the greater Hampton Roads puzzle than it has ever been,'' he said. ``Regionally, as a whole, we are coming to be identified as something more than an urban area. We can certainly see the signs.''
Caskey, who still lives in Suffolk with his wife, Robbie, an office manager for Nansemond Insurance Company, and two daughters, Amanda, 4, and Emily, 3, said that one of his first concerns now will actually be moving into the county he has taken so much responsibility for.
In Isle of Wight, he has created his own sense of place. And now, he said, he wants to watch that place grow, develop and mature in the best way it possibly can. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
[Color Photo]
New man in charge
Doug Caskey succeeds Myles Standish as county's top administrator.
Staff photos by MICHAEL KESTNER
Removing the ``acting'' tag from Doug Caskey's title as county
administrator was a no-brainer for the county's board of
supervisors. He had the education and the experience. ``We didn't
have to pay thousands of dollars for a search,'' Carrsville
Supervisor Phillip Bradshaw said. ``Promotion from within allows a
smooth transition. It also allows us the opportunity to streamline
our government offices.''
In comparing him to his predecessor, Myles Standish, Mac Cofer, vice
chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said: ``We'll see a difference
in leadership style. I think Doug will be more available. He has a
strong people-ability, both in dealing with the county staff and
with the general public.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB