THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601050158
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Another longtime Norfolk employee has joined the top ranks of Portsmouth's city government.
James G. Gildea, planning manager in Norfolk's Department of City Planning, will become Portsmouth's director of planning Jan. 29. He replaces Will Jones, who left the city last month to work in Washington, D.C.
Gildea joins a management team headed by City Manager Ron Massie, who retired as assistant city manager of Norfolk before coming to Portsmouth last year as interim city manager. He later accepted the job on a permanent basis.
Shortly before Christmas, Massie filled the vacant city public affairs job with Ken Wheeler, also a former Norfolk employee.
Wheeler said Thursday that Gildea was chosen from a ``good number'' of regional applicants for the job.
``Ron Massie wanted to put the word out locally before going on a national search,'' Wheeler said. ``A committee from the city and the chairman of Planning Commission interviewed several applicants who seemed the best prospects and unanimously recommended Gildea.''
Noting that Massie sees the planning director's job as ``a real crucial spot in local government,'' Wheeler said Gildea will be a ``real important part of the management team.''
Gildea has worked in Norfolk for 20 years. In his current position, he works closely with city staff, civic leagues, business groups and consultants on applying planning principles and processes to the solution of city issues.
``He's a good, big-picture planner,'' Wheeler said.
He earned a master's degree in regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1978 and graduated from Princeton University in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in political science.
In 1987, he was chosen as the Civitan Club Norfolk Employee of the Year and also has received three ``Class Act'' awards from the Norfolk City Manager's office. Recently, he has served as guest host on ``City Perspectives'' on Norfolk's television Channel 48.
Gildea is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the American Planning Association.
He currently is treasurer of the Friends of the Norfolk Library and the Norfolk Historical Society.
Wheeler said he and Gildea, as well as Massie, plan to move to Portsmouth. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Gildea
by CNB