Vincent Shorter, who has been the Pittsylvania County treasurer for eight and a half years, took on a second role of interim county administrator at the beginning of July.
The Pittsylvania native stepped into this position after former county administrator Stuart Turille resigned suddenly in April, just over a year into his contract.
Shorter is now overseeing the daily operations of a county of about 60,000 residents that is experiencing unprecedented growth, attracting developments like a master-planned community and a data center.
This growth will be beneficial to both the county’s economy and its residents, Shorter said, adding that Pittsylvania needs to be prepared to facilitate it.
The county board of supervisors appointed Shorter for the interim position in June, two months after Turille’s departure.
The board also waived the 30-day resignation notice required under Turille’s contract and unanimously agreed to pay him a full six months of salary, plus benefits, as a severance package. Board members have not publicly spoken about this decision since.
One month into his tenure, Shorter sat down with Cardinal News to discuss his new role and provide an update on the search for a permanent replacement for Turille. The following is an edited interview with Shorter.
Tell me about the decision to step into the role of interim county administrator.
I’m wearing two hats. I’m still the treasurer, and I’m the interim county administrator during this search for a permanent replacement. It’s very busy, but I welcome that. I love a challenge. I love anything that I can do to help my community. This is my home. I don’t plan on leaving. My roots are here, and I’m tied permanently to the area.
Anything I can do to extend any useful services or talents I may have to help facilitate this process was my motivator for offering to temporarily wear both hats. We can give the county some time, a little cushion to not feel rushed so that they can take their time and find a good permanent replacement for the county administrator. I didn’t want them to feel like they were on a clock, so that was my motivation for doing this.
How has being county treasurer prepared you for the role of interim county administrator?
They’re both management-level positions, so they both require structure and organization to be able to effectively manage any type of operation. It’s different because there are various departments under the umbrella of county administrator that all do different things and have unique circumstances. I’m now looking at the overall operation of individual departments instead of being so compartmentalized. I was familiar with the organization of the various departments, being with the county for eight and a half years, and I had a high-level understanding of what they did, but I was not always involved with the day-to-day issues or long-term planning.
So the plan is to return to the treasurer position after a permanent county administrator is found?
Yes. It’s a full plate to say the least, but it’s manageable.
It’s been about a month since you took on this second role. How has it gone?
I came in with a unique perspective from having already been part of the organization for so long, so there really wasn’t the typical ramp-up speed. I already knew the department heads and most of their staff. I didn’t have to do a lot of familiarizing myself with what each department handles. I already knew that, so I think I had an advantage coming in, and that made the transition a lot smoother than perhaps someone from an outside organization. I have to give credit where credit’s due to the staff. My perception was always that they were solutions-minded staff, and that has proven to be correct. That certainly made the transition smooth.
And it was good timing. We just completed the fiscal year June 30, and we had already completed the spring collection cycle. It was perfect timing for me to take on this additional role. Of course, there was about a two-month gap between when the previous administrator left and when they appointed me as the interim. There were some things in the hopper that needed immediate attention. It was a little busier than normal because things had kind of backed up a little bit for those two months. But we’ve successfully gotten through those one by one.
Any challenges so far?
You always have challenges, and most of them you try to get in front of with long-term planning. But there’s always immediate concerns that need immediate attention. If you’re ahead with long-term planning, you should be able to stay on top of the major issues and then just deal with the minor day-to-day.
What is rewarding about the role?
The most rewarding part thus far, and this also has been the history with being treasurer, is the interaction with the public. You can’t always deliver the answer they were hoping to receive, but you can adequately explain the circumstances, and in a lot of cases, the law. It’s rewarding to hear them thank you for the time that you took to explain things to them and to give them the full and complete picture. Not just the decision that was made but the reasoning and rationale behind it. It really is rewarding for me when, at the end of the conversation, they’re thanking you. Sometimes they may come in and they’re agitated by something or don’t have an understanding of something, and then they leave and feel more relaxed and comfortable.
What is the timeline for finding a new permanent county administrator? What does that process look like?
The deadline for applications is Aug. 15. The board has a personnel committee, and I’m not sure how they will organize that, but at that point, it’s completely a decision by the board. The county administrator is one of only two people that the board hires directly, the county attorney and the county administrator. So the board will be 100% responsible and involved with the process of reviewing applications, scheduling interviews, and conducting interviews. I’m not sure what a definite timeline would be as far as how long they will take to screen applicants. It could be lengthy. But my whole intention was to give them that time. I don’t want them to make a rushed decision. They need to find the right person, the right fit for our community.
Do you know if it will be someone who is already part of the community or someone from outside the area?
I don’t know, but obviously the ideal situation would be someone local. Someone that understood the area or had tides to the community. Those are always your ideal circumstances.
Pittsylvania has seen a lot of growth lately, as well as development announcements like the Ringgold data center and Axton housing project. What does it mean for the county to attract developments like this?
From county administration and government perspective, it means that the county needs to be prepared and ready to welcome growth. How you do that is in the strategic and long-term planning of your infrastructure. If their infrastructure is not in place to support expanding population base or expanding economic development, then the growing pains are going to be that much more amplified. We’ve done a good job of that. The county in general has always had extra capacity in our infrastructure, and we’re looking forward at what infrastructure needs will be in the future.
From a community standpoint, it’s only best that we continue to expand and diversify our economy. Not if but when there’s a downturn in the economy, the more you’re diversified, the less severe the impact. Economic development growth is essential to the health of the overall community for the long term.
We need to make sure that we’re prepared to not only welcome this growth, but to facilitate it and make sure it’s a smooth transition. The citizens are looking for us to expand the tax base, and the more you broaden that tax base and expand it, the less the burden is on the individual citizen or the homeowner. That’s certainly an objective and goal of mine.
How can the county best prepare for this anticipated growth?
These regional industrial facility authorities that we’re part of, the Staunton River RIFA and the Danville RIFA, have been working with economic development teams in both county and city as a joint venture. There have been investments made to site prep to have more than just vacant land available for a community. It’s about having the resources, the infrastructure like water and utilities, to have the site shovel-ready. That way they can hit the ground running and the legwork has been done in advance.
Typically, industries are looking to shorten the time that they’re going to spend getting up to speed. That’s our job as local governments, both the county and the city working together, to provide those opportunities for business. Time is money, we’ve always heard that and it truly is for us. The quicker they come in and develop here, the better for us and our citizens and the tax base and future employees. It’s a win-win.
