Without making an official announcement, by presenting the General Fund amendments to the budget for FY 2002, ending June 30, 2002, Town Manager John “Ed” Moore made it known that he would be stepping down.
Of the $167,400 in budget amendments, approved unanimously by the Herndon Town Council at the June 11 public hearing, $30,000 will be used for “position recruitment – Town Manager.”
“I feel comfortable,” said Moore, who has filled the post of town manager since 2000 after a 14-year stint as the Town’s director of public works. “It’s good to leave a job feeling good about it – leaving a lot of friends,” he said. Moore spent his first career in the U.S. Army, retiring with the rank of colonel after serving two tours in Vietnam with the Army Corps of Engineers.
“We’re getting ready to pull up stakes,” said Moore, a Herndon resident with his wife Michele since 1986. While no specific date is set for Moore’s departure, other than to say “within the year,” he is having a house built in New Bern, N.C. near the Neuse River. It is expected to be finished this fall.
Until that time, the Herndon will undergo an executive search. “We’re really just getting into it," said Moore. "We haven’t done anything official other than set aside the funds we’re going to need. It will be a process. It will take a month to 45 days to get ads out into the journals."
“It was no secret when Ed came on board it was not for an extended period of time,” said Herndon Mayor Carol Bruce.
The Town Council unanimously supported the budget amendments, including the usually financially conservative Dennis Husch, seeing the importance to the upcoming search.
“The selection of the new town manager is certainly the most important decision that the council will make in the next two years," said Husch. "We must assure that we identify qualified candidates and make a selection that is in the long-term, best interest of our community. Professional assistance in this endeavor is absolutely necessary.”
The Town of Herndon is seeking a candidate that has the training and background as a town manager, said Bruce. “We need real strong leadership. There are so many complex issues to deal with. It’s going to take a special kind of person. There are many qualified people in the area, so we probably won’t have to go far – either within the Commonwealth or the Metro-area,” she said.