Edwards hires Short as county administrator
Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Dan Short will be the next Washington County administrator, county judge-elect Marilyn Edwards announced Tuesday.
Short will take over the duties from County Judge Jerry Hunton’s county administrator, John Gibson, on Dec. 15.
Edwards said she and Short met through mutual friends.
“I was impressed with his ability to deal with people, and John [Gibson] does a lot of that,” she said.
She said she also was impressed with Short’s experience in government, which includes administrative work in the Arkansas National Guard and the Arkansas State Police. She stated that this gives him “valuable insight into county government,” according to her official announcement, which was released Tuesday.
“I just feel he is a really excellent choice,” Edwards said.
In dealing with people, she said, “He’s always mannerly, but he’s direct and to the point. He’s very courteous at all times.”
Edwards stated that she selected Short from three well-qualified finalists gleaned from several applications. While the qualifications of all finalists made the choice difficult, she stated, Short’s experience in government was the overriding qualification.
“I was very flattered and pleased that we had so many good people that were interested in the job,” Edwards said in an interview Tuesday.
His duties in the Arkansas National Guard included serving in the 39th Infantry Brigade as general staff officer, Army aviation battalion commander, and director of a marksmanship training unit as part of a national mission. He retired as a colonel in January of 2001.
One of the things about serving as a general staff officer, he said, is that it is akin to a chief of staff role. He said the county administrator is sort of like the chief of staff for the county judge “as far as coordinating issues between department heads, ensuring goals and projects get completed in time and within budget.”
Short, who is retired from the Arkansas National Guard and Arkansas State Police, is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. He holds “many law enforcement and hazardous materials certificates too numerous to list,” according to Edwards’ announcement.
He and his wife, Susan, who live in Elm Springs, have two daughters, Amanda Sanford and Carie Landrum, and four grandchildren. Both of their daughters work as registered nurses in the Springdale area.
Gibson, who has worked for Hunton for 10 years, plans to work with Short through April to bring him up to speed on county issues. Gibson was promoted from within by Hunton after working for the county as emergency management director. He has served a total of 15 years for the county.
“I visited with him in length during the interview process,” Gibson said. “The thing that sold me on him was his experience in state government, in government, period. That’s a plus when you have some idea how government works. I think he’ll do a good job.”
“I’m grateful,” Short said of the opportunity. “I know it’s going to be a challenge for me,” he said. “The learning curve is pretty steep.
“I’ve been a public servant for 32 years,” he said.
“It’s something that appeals to me. I like serving people. My last job as a criminal investigator, of course, I asked questions and solved issues, solved crimes. I feel like I have the capacity to learn the job. I’ll be solving issues throughout the first year,” he said, adding that he will gain “institutional knowledge.”
He spoke of Gibson’s 10 years on the job.
“I’d love to know what he knows at this point, but I don’t think there’s any way to know it unless you live through it,” he said.
Short retired last August as a sergeant from the Arkansas State Police, but says he found out “that I’m not a stay-at-home type person.”
“I think being productive is something a lot of us probably miss as we retire,” he said.
He spent most of the past 30 years in Russellville. He was area supervisor in charge of the criminal investigation division for a six-county area in the River Valley.
He said he and his wife had planned to retire in Northwest Arkansas to be closer to family. His wife works as a nanny for a dermatologist and had worked for a dermatologist for several years.
“We love it up here,” he said.
While serving with the state police, Short served in the Arkansas National Guard. He joined both in 1976. He served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, before coming home and eventually joining the National Guard.
In another development for the new Edwards administration, which officially begins Jan. 1, an job advertisement has been placed to fill a vacancy that will be left by County Comptroller Boyd Darling.
Darling on Thursday night announced his intentions to leave the office after 18 years to take advantage of a business opportunity. He would not elaborate further, but did say it was something in the works no matter who was elected county judge.
Applications will close for the county comptroller position on Dec. 1.
Darling will stay through February and guide the newly hired comptroller through the budget process next month.
Also, Hunton’s executive secretary, Virginia Abel, plans to leave at the end of the year so Edwards is also looking to fill that position.
As for the overall transition period, Edwards said she sat in on Hunton’s staff meeting Monday.
“A lot of the staff were there,” she said. “Right now, I don’t see any problems.”
She said she is balancing the transition to county judge with finishing her job as state representative for District 88. She said she is trying to finish out the legislative work through this year. She said, laughing, that she is doing two jobs and trying to plan for the holiday.
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