courtesy of Chesterfield County
Chesterfield County Administrator Jay Stegmaier announced two appointments to fill high-level positions in the county. Dr. Sheryl D. Bailey has been named deputy county administrator for Management Services and Steven W. Hicks will come on board as deputy county administrator for Community Development. Both are slated to begin their new posts in early September.  “I am excited that after a national recruitment and approximately 250 applications that Sheryl and Steven have been selected to join our leadership team. The level of interest nationwide in these positions validates our goal of being the employer of choice. Both Sheryl and Steven best demonstrated throughout the search process their interest and ability to serve the residents of Chesterfield County,” Stegmaier said.

Bailey brings 20 years of public-service experience to the county, including eight years in high- level positions in Virginia state government. Most recently, she served as executive director of the Virginia Resources Authority (VRA), the state’s independent municipal bond bank, where she served in an outstanding capacity and is credited with quadrupling financial support to local communities, according to Bill O’Brien, retired Rockingham county administrator and chairman of the VRA board. Bailey holds both masters and doctoral degrees in economics from Harvard University.  “Chesterfield County is fortunate to have someone of Sheryl’s caliber on its team. She is a gifted leader and knows how to bring out the best in her staff,” said Ron Tillett, former secretary of finance and former state treasurer of Virginia. Sheryl will oversee the county’s internal program functions including Accounting, Internal Audit, Information Systems Technology, License Inspection, Purchasing, Real Estate Assessment and Risk Management and will also serve as the liaison to the county’s constitutional officers.

Hicks’ impressive record with the business community in James City County was a deciding factor in his selection as deputy for Community Development.  Currently, he serves as a senior member of the county administrator’s executive team, where he oversees Building Code Compliance, Environmental, Planning and Zoning in James City County. Hicks also oversees locally-administered transportation construction projects. Prior to that, he was acting assistant county administrator, senior assistant to the county administrator and General Services manager. His experience also includes extensive service with the Virginia Department of Transportation. Hicks completed his undergraduate work at VCU and holds a masters in Urban Systems Engineering from George Mason University. Former County Administrator Sandy Wanner praised Steven for the report card that Hicks established to assess how well the county was meeting the needs of the development community. “Steven’s track record as a leader is one of the reasons he is well-respected in the development community. He is not afraid to take on a challenge and is able to rally the right people together to get a job done,” said Wanner. Hicks will oversee the county’s regulatory functions including the departments of Building Inspections, Economic Development/Revitalization, Environmental Engineering, Planning, Transportation and Utilities.

Bailey and Hicks join two other recent additions to the county’s executive team.  Sarah Snead, former Chesterfield – Colonial Heights Social Services director, was promoted to deputy county administrator for Human Services in June.  Jeff Mincks, former deputy county attorney, was named county attorney last month following the retirement of the former county attorney.                                                           

Together, all four new team members have more than 96 years of public service experience. 

Other members of Chesterfield County’s executive leadership team are Thierry Dupuis, police chief; Loy Senter, fire chief; Marilyn Cole, assistant county administrator; Allan Carmody, director of Budget and Management; Don Kappel, director of Public Affairs; Mary Martin Selby, director of Human Resources Services; and Scott Zaremba, director of Human Resources Programs.  “The citizens of Chesterfield County deserve the very best talent available and the Board of Supervisors is pleased that the county administrator has assembled a strong, well-balanced team that is capable and ready to move the county forward,” said Dan Gecker, chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors.