Interim county administrators bridge the gap and offer seasoned experience

Key Takeaways

So much for retirement.

Less than a week after her tenure as administrator for Frederick County, Va. ended, Brenda Garton got a call from a few counties south. Rappahannock County needed an interim administrator. Was she interested?

It was the first in a series of five contract stops for Garton, who had also served as administrator in Orange, Gloucester and Prince George counties in Virginia. She isn’t alone in offering her expertise to a county in need.

“I just want to keep the ship moving down the channel,” said Craig Meadows, who recently finished stints as Stafford County’s interim administrator and Radford, Va.’s interim city manager. “It’s not my job to take the helm and set direction for the county, but I do get to offer some stability and some calm when communities are undergoing a change.”

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More than 40% of counties nationwide employ an appointed administrator. At some point, one of those 1,240 administrators — 95 alone in Virginia — is going to leave their role, and the show must go on for various departments. When in need, their county Boards will probably call someone like Garton, Meadows or six-time interim administrator Sandy Wanner.  Meadows and Wanner have worked through the Berkeley Group.

After his CPA career migrated into local government in his native North Carolina, Meadows moved up to Montgomery County, Va., where he served as administrator from 2009-2023.

“You don’t take on any new initiatives, but there are some benefits to not staying on full-time,” Meadows said. “You can be pretty blunt with the elected officials about what needs to be done because you’re not trying to win the job long-term. You still have to be cognizant of the politics, but at the end of the day, you have no motive other than trying to be helpful and supportive.”

Garton liked the focus that comes with short tenures.

“You don’t have to worry about the county’s long-term goals and you don’t have to solve huge problems, because you don’t have enough time to do that,” she said. “You’re going to be there for eight months, not eight years.”

Wanner was a longtime James City County, Va. administrator, retiring in 2010. When Garton left Gloucester County, he took her place temporarily. From there, he also served Isle of Wight, King William, Surry and Mathews counties before concluding his career this summer in Charles City County, with a few towns and public authorities mixed in there.

He started each stint with three steps — meeting with staff, meeting individually with each county supervisor and figuring out how to keep operations moving smoothly.

Interim administrators often collaborate closely with the full-timers hired to succeed them, and some participate in the recruitment. Wanner started his interim career working heavily on recruitment, then dialed that effort back in favor of working with outside consultants.

“Counties are good at recruiting their personnel, but an outside perspective is helpful in identifying administrators,” he said.

 Crucially, when their appointments follow a resignation or firing, the interim administrator plays a large part in restoring order among the staff, starting with reassurances that nothing dramatic will happen under their watch.

“I would never take a job if the elected officials wanted me to clean house,” Garton said. “I was up front with the governing bodies in that process. I’m not saying I wouldn’t fire someone if I needed to, but I want to leave a functioning county for whoever comes next. If the next administrator wants to make dramatic changes, that’s up to them.”

Meadows sympathizes with the rank-and-file staff.

“No matter why the other administrator left, it’s a period of uncertainty for the staff, it’s a period of uncertainty for the elected officials. They don’t know who they’re going to get in the end,” he said. “At the end of the day, what matters is serving the community, and everyone involved has to be focused on doing that.”

After Rappahannock, Garton served interim roles in the city of Lexington, Greene County, Orange County and back to Greene County. 

“When Greene County was looking again, one of the Board members contacted me,” she said. “They knew I had my first granddaughter, and I probably wasn’t going to want the job, but I said, ‘No, this was one of my favorite places to work. I’ll do it.’” 

Though many county staff have requisite managerial experience, Garton cautions against temporarily elevating staff to fill that interim role. Particularly if it’s in addition to their job.

“That’s really tough, because it sets the expectation that you’re giving them the job, even if you’re still doing a search,” she said. “One person trying to do two jobs, especially when one is a new job to them, puts them in a tough place. It can also discourage other candidates. In my opinion, I think you’re better off getting someone from outside and then taking applications.”

Garton commuted for one interim job but had to rent locally for the rest. Meadows had no choice — Stafford County is four hours from his home in Montgomery County.

“I was never in the military, but I think it feels something like a deployment,” he said. “You’re away from your family and friends, and you’re totally focused on the job during the week while you’re in town. It helps knowing that it’s a temporary assignment.”

A second grandchild has cemented Garton’s retirement, but she felt the hard work paid off.

“I think there probably were some governing body members in places who maybe didn’t think they were going to like me at the beginning, but by the time I got to the end, they did,” she said. “I don’t know when I felt more appreciated professionally.”