Melinda Moran

The announcement was made following a procedural vote at a special meeting Saturday afternoon by the Mathews County Board of Supervisors.

Moran will replace Steve Whiteway, who retired on Jan. 31 after serving more than 11 years in that post. Saturday’s meeting was a continuation of the board’s Jan. 24 meeting where, during a closed session, chairman Janine Burns was given permission to extend to Moran an offer of employment.

On Saturday, by a 4-1 margin, with Charles Ingram voting against, the board officially authorized Burns to have made the offer.

Moran began her tenure as manager of the Town of Clarksville in May of 1994. According to a release from the county board, during Moran’s time in the lakeside Virginia town, she “led administrative efforts to establish a lasting shift from a traditional agricultural and manufacturing-based economy to tourism and service-based economy.”

Moran holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources and a master’s in urban affairs and planning from Virginia Tech. As the new county administrator, Moran will earn $90,000 a year.

Clarksville, the first incorporated town in Mecklenburg County, is located on Virginia’s southern border. With a population of 1,139, according to 2010 U.S. census figures, Clarksville is situated on Kerr Lake. Each July, the town hosts the Virginia Lake Festival, attracting approximately 80,000 visitors during the three-day event.

The search for a replacement for Whiteway began last summer, attracting a “substantial number of candidates,” Burns said. Several of those candidates were called back for follow-up interviews.

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