THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604120298
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 138 lines
SITTING NEXT TO THE mayor, calling the next item at City Council meetings, City Clerk Sheila Powell Pittman is a model of decorum and one of the most fashionably dressed women in City Hall.
She looks more like a Baptist church deacon, which she is, than a race car fan who would like to take Dale Earnhardt's car for a run around the track.
She is that as well.
``I used to think auto racing was the worst thing in the world. It drove me crazy to see Tommy,'' her husband of 29 years, she says, ``looking at races on television.''
Then Tommy started going to the races and finally persuaded Sheila to go with him to Charlotte in 1991. They camped in a small trailer.
``I never met so many wonderful people,'' she says. ``These people are so laid back, and they've been all over the country to races.''
A year or so later, the Pittmans decided to take in the Daytona 500, again camping near the race track.
``The pre-race ceremonies are a show you get caught up in. I got hooked after a couple of times. Now I'm a serious fan, and I even have a shirt autographed by Dale Earnhardt. My husband says people in Portsmouth wouldn't believe it if they saw me at the races!''
The Pittmans are going to Dover, Del., in June, using tickets she won at a clerk's conference.
In the same year she became a racing fan, Sheila also discovered golf. Her son, Jim, was an outstanding golfer in high school, and she was intrigued.
``My whole life had been my two children, and I decided I needed to learn to do something besides work and children.''
Subsequently, she took some lessons and started playing at City Park because of its convenience, and she joined the Sleepy Hole Ladies Golf Association.
That, too, has become a ``serious'' thing. Last fall, she and three friends journeyed to Pinehurst to play golf for two days, and they're planning another trip to the North Carolina Sandhills in June.
Also, a few years ago she became a Rotarian, one of the first women to join the Portsmouth club, and within a few years she was named Portsmouth's Rotarian of the Year, the first woman to receive the honor.
Right now Sheila is busy being the mother of the bridegroom and will spend this week in Rocky Mount, N.C., where her son will be married next Saturday.
Meanwhile, the clerk's life goes on.
Sheila was installed Friday in Virginia Beach as president of the Virginia Municipal Clerks Association, a 125-member group of clerks from cities, counties, towns and boroughs across the state.
``I'm a year ahead of schedule because the first vice president had to step down and I moved up.''
In addition, she's hosting Region 2 of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks here Dec. 12-14. About 300 delegates from six states are expected to attend.
``That happened on the spur of the moment when the scheduled host city in West Virginia could not do the meeting,'' she says. ``I issued the invitation, and the clerk from Virginia Beach backed me up.''
Sheila came up through the ranks at the city. She started as a clerk-typist working in the basement of the Civic Center for Herb Simpson, director of emergency communications and civil defense.
She's worked for the city a total of 22 years but took a break when she wanted to try real estate sales.
She did a stint in personnel and then in parks and recreation before Mayor Dick Davis asked her to be his secretary. Then she worked as administrative assistant to City Manager Robert Williams before taking maternity leave in 1982.
``When I came back, they asked me to set up the central files system.''
In 1984, then City Manager George Hanbury named her the city's first public information officer. When Corinna Jeffreys retired as clerk in January 1988, Pittman was appointed by City Council to the job.
``The clerk's office, whether it's in Portsmouth, Va., or Portsmouth, England, or anywhere is important because it's the gateway to government,'' she says. ``The clerk is responsible for the history of the city.''
The clerk is the continuity, she says.
``City Councils come and go and city managers come and go, but the clerk's office goes on.''
In addition to keeping records, the clerk serves as a marriage commissioner. Pittman will perform the ceremony at City Hall or outside, and she has done one on a yacht and one in a nursing home. The money from the marriage ceremonies goes back to the city.
``I did three this week,'' she said last week. ``That's $90 for the city.''
How does Sheila Pittman fit everything into the day?
``I get up at 4:30 and then I walk with Johnna Whitaker (a deputy city manager) from 5 to 6. I wash clothes and pack bag lunches in the morning before I come to work.''
Working for the public is important to Pittman, who remembers meeting John F. Kennedy when he was campaigning and she was in the sixth grade.
``I've been turned on ever since.''
Kennedy's famous inaugural speech - ``Ask not what your country can do for you . . . '' - has stuck with her.
``That's what life is all about, and I just don't understand people who can take, take, take and take.''
Name: Sheila Powell Pittman
Neighborhood: Hatton Point
Number of years in Portsmouth: 47
Birthplace: Portsmouth
Birthdate: Dec. 12, 1948
Occupation: City Clerk
What job other than your own would you like? Joan Lunden's on ``Good Morning America''
Marital Status: Married to Tommy for 28 years
Children/Grandchildren: Jim, age 27, and Jan, age 14 (They are the light of my life.)
Fondest childhood memory: Family vacations and Wednesdays, my Mother's day off. It was always special. She surprised us weekly with something wonderful.
First concert: Beach Boys at the Dome, Virginia Beach
What song or book title best describes your life? ``One Day at a Time''
If you won the lottery, what's the very first thing you'd buy? Impossible. I've never played.
If you could trade places for just one day with anyone in the world, who would it be and why? Dale Earnhardt. I would love to drive the No. 3 car.
Biggest accomplishment: Hole-in-one (1992)
Most embarrassing moment: Missing the ball (whiff!) at the Rotary Golf Outing
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would learn to relax.
Perfect way to spend the day: Golf at Pinehurst
I can't resist: Golf after work. (Score still too high for weekend play.)
Favorite Portsmouth restaurant: Impossible to name just one.
Favorite Portsmouth hangout: Port Norfolk Baptist Church
Biggest problem facing Portsmouth: Lack of self-confidence and unity.
If you had three wishes for Portsmouth, what would they be? Vision 2005 realized; commerce park at Fairwood; Ambassador Club dances for Portsmouth teenagers, who desperately need clean, affordable places to socialize and have fun.
Other than its small-town atmosphere, what do you like about living in Portsmouth? The quality and pace of life is the finest in the region. We have real neighborhoods, filled with people who love and care for one another. Portsmouth has charm and lot of class! ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Sheila Powell Pittman
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY by CNB