Forty-five years ago, on December 3, 1962, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to create the position of Executive Secretary, which would serve as the county’s chief administrative officer.

The Board voted unanimously to fill the position “when it sees fit,” probably sometime early the next year. Supervisors W. P. Frazer and S. D. Phillips and Commonwealth’s Attorney Stirling M. Harrison were appointed to serve as a committee that would find out who was qualified and available, when that person would be able to start, and what salary was expected.

The Board officially created the position on May 21, 1963. The resolution stated that the County Clerk, who had been serving in an ex officio capacity as Clerk to the Board, had asked to be relieved of those additional duties because of a substantial increase in his responsibilities. The resolution also stated that the administration of county functions required full-time supervision by an executive officer who was directly responsible to the Board.

At that same meeting, the Board appointed Douglas M. Pratt, who had been serving as the county’s planning director, to fill the newly created Executive Secretary position effective July 1, 1963, at a salary of $10,000 per year.

Pratt served as Executive Secretary for almost two years before resigning on May 14, 1965. He was replaced by Charles F. Turner, who had been serving in a similar capacity for Spotsylvania County.

Turner served as the county’s Executive Secretary until resigning on January 21, 1969. He was replaced by Larry J. Brown, who came to Loudoun from Winston-Salem, N.C.

On August 17, 1971, Brown resigned and was replaced on an interim basis by Philip A. Bolen, the county’s Director of Parks and Recreation. Chairman William S. Leach announced that the Board would wait until after the November 1971 general election before filling the position, so that the new supervisors would be able to participate in the decision.

On the first day of the new Board’s term, January 4, 1972, Bolen’s appointment as Executive Secretary was made permanent. That July, minutes of the Board meetings began referring to Bolen by a new title – County Administrator. He was to continue to serve as the county’s chief administrative officer for over 20 years before retiring on September 30, 1991.

Kirby M. Bowers was then appointed to succeed Bolen on an interim basis. A Loudoun County employee since 1977, Bowers had previously served as an assistant to Bolen and subsequently as the county's first budget director and as Deputy County Administrator. After a general election in November 1991, his appointment was made permanent by the new Board of Supervisors, on June 16, 1992. Now in his 16th year as County Administrator, Bowers currently has the second-longest tenure of Loudoun County's five chief administrative officers.

Sources: Board of Supervisors Meeting Minutes

Image: County Administrator Kirby M. Bowers, 2006, photo by Lorie Flading


This is one of a series of weekly releases from the Loudoun County Office of Public Information during 2007, highlighting landmark events in the Loudoun County government over its 250-year history.