Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 15, 1990 TAG: 9006150838
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hodge, who went to Manassas for an interview Monday, said he was asked to apply for the job last Hodge month by a consultant hired by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
"I had mixed emotions about applying," he said. "I didn't even have a resume."
If he is offered the job, "I need to sit down and discuss it with the [Roanoke County] Board of Supervisors, and we'll make a decision," Hodge said. "If they don't offer me the job, I have no intention of looking further."
Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Cole said there were 83 applicants for the job. The board interviewed about 10 finalists "from all over the country" and is awaiting the results of background checks. It will make a decision Tuesday, he said.
Cole wouldn't comment on Hodge's ranking among the finalists, but sources told The Washington Post in a story published Thursday that the leading candidate is the deputy city manager of Aurora, Colorado.
Prince William County has a population of 225,000, making it three times larger than Roanoke County. It is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, Cole said.
The former county executive, Robert S. Noe, Jr., was earning $96,000 a year when he resigned at the end of 1989. Noe had worked for Prince William County 11 years. He took a job with the Anden Group, a real-estate development company.
The pay range for the new county executive will be $85,000 to $110,000 a year, Cole said.
Hodge is earning $83,000 a year in Roanoke County, but he said pay wasn't a factor in his decision to apply for the job. Rather, Prince William County is "a larger locality, it's a faster-growing locality, and that offers a lot of challenges," he said.
Hodge said it was "a real compliment" that he was asked to apply for the job, "not only to me, but to the staff and the board. We've done a lot of things they were impressed with."
He's not eager to leave Roanoke County, Hodge said. "I really love it here. I enjoy the work. I'm not aware of any problems between me and the board or me and the staff."
One of his biggest concerns would be leaving Roanoke County before the consolidation vote in November, Hodge said. "But I don't know if my presence here will make a difference one way or another . . . That would be a major factor in my decision to stay."
Hodge told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that he was a finalist for the job in Prince William County.
Chairman Dick Robers said Hodge has "done a fine job, and I'd like to see him stay. But he has to decide what he wants to do. And we have to continue to run Roanoke County. If he decides to leave, there are other qualified people out there."
Supervisor Lee Eddy said, "There are a lot of major issues facing the county right now. If Mr. Hodge should leave, it would create some problems. . . . But I'm sure we would survive."
Hodge, 46, has been county administrator since November 1985. Before that, he was an assistant administrator in Chesterfield County.
Hodge was one of five finalists for the top job in Chesterfield County in the fall of 1987.
by CNB