THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS® of the Fairfax Area National Women's History Month - March 2002

WOMEN DEPARTMENT HEADS IN
FAIRFAX COUNTY & CITY GOVERNMENT

The first woman to achieve department head status in Fairfax County government was Ilene Blake, appointed director of the Office of Management and Budget in 1973. A year earlier, the County's employees newsletter, the Courier, ran an article: County officials who are frustrated at home by a woman handling their household budget now are going to be just as frustrated at the office. For a woman has been named to head the Budget Branch. Blake remained the only woman department head for seven years. Fairfax County Public Affairs states that, 28 years later, there are 12 women department heads:

Madeline D. Arter, Acting Director for Residential Services, Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court, has served over 27 years in various positions within this system. Her present position entails responsibility for the overall operations of the Court's Residential Programs, including the Juvenile Detention Center, the Less Secure Residential Programs, the Boys and Girls Probation Houses, and the Supervised Release/Electronic Monitoring Program. She manages over 183 employees with an annual budget of 9.5 million dollars.

Susan Datta, Director of the Department of Management and Budget, served as the Department's assistant director since 1993. Datta holds an MPA from UNC at Chapel Hill. She worked as assistant to the county manager in Catawba County, NC, for three years, before coming here in 1987 as a senior budget analyst II. Datta's duties include budget development, oversight, and analysis; project management; and revenue forecasting.

Merni Fitzgerald was appointed Director of Public Affairs in 2001, starting her career in government in 1986 with the Fairfax County Park Authority. A JMU political science major, she served eight years on the Falls Church City Council, two of them as vice mayor. She also has served on the boards of the Fairfax-Falls Church United Way, Falls Church Housing Corp. and Caregivers Home Health Services. Fitzgerald's efforts have been recognized by numerous honors from the Mattie Gundry Award from the Falls Church Commission For Women to the Virginia Communicator of the Year Award in 2000.

Leia Francisco, Director of the Office For Women (OFW) and Executive Director of the Commission For Women(CFW), has more than 25 years experience with public policy and workforce development. She has worked with clients ranging from the National Archives and the Goddard Space Flight Center to Marriott Corporation and has authored two texts on writing and career planning. Both the OFW and the CFW have received national recognition for their progress and policy reform for women.

Patricia Franckewitz, Director of the Department of Community and Recreation Services. She earned a masters in recreation from the University of Maryland. Her academic emphasis was therapeutic recreation. For five years she was the division manager of the Melwood Vocational Training Center in Maryland, coming to Fairfax in 1986. Franckewitz has worked as an adjunct professor with George Mason University since 1998.

Wanda Gibson, Director of the Department of Information Technology. Gibson earned her MBA from Howard University, augmented with various information technology and management programs. She has had over 15 years direct senior level management experience including policy development in organizations with annual appropriated budget(s) totaling $400 million and above. She was employed at Howard University from 1986-1994 and rose to executive director of information system and services. Gibson later became department director of Arlington's Office of Technology Services. Since May 1999 Gibson has been the chief technology architect here.

Marguerite (Margo) M. Kiely, Director, Department of Systems Management for Human Services. Kiely holds an MA in social psychology from Duke University. She had nearly 30 years experience in various social services positions before coming here in 1995. Her department is committed to building upon the strengths of our diverse community. Efforts are dedicated to integrating and ensuring access to needed services, developing measurable outcomes, and leveraging existing resources to improve the quality of life for all residents.

Barbara Lippa, Executive Director, Fairfax County Planning Commission. Lippa's duties since 1999: advise Planning Commission members on land use policy; attend public hearings and committee meetings to provide technical assistance; administer daily office operations; oversee public relations/website as well as budget preparations, and schedule Commission agenda items. Lippa holds an MA in special studies, urban learning, from GWU. She is quite active with Zonta International and other civic organizations.

Sandra Stiner Lowe, Director, Fairfax County Office of Partnerships. This agency stimulates community resources to benefit underserved low-income residents in health, education and technology. Lowe holds an MS in urban affairs from Virginia Tech and has more than 20 years experience in public policy, human services, and organizational leadership. She is the principal architect of the Medical Care of Children Partnership, an innovative public-private financing strategy providing cost-effective, comprehensive health and dental care to children of the working poor. She was one of only 10 Americans selected for the 1995 Atlantic Fellowships in Public Policy Award and has spent six months studying the United Kingdom's health care policies.

Paula C. Sampson, Director, Department of Housing & Community Development, is responsible for administering a variety of federal, state, and local programs. These duties comprise: development, ownership and operation of rental housing including housing for seniors and other special needs populations; rental assistance; financing of multifaceted real estate; loans for home ownership and home improvements; as well as revitalization of the County's commercial areas. Sampson earned an MBA from GMU. She began her career as an urban planner in Michigan and later was a Congressional Lobbyist for the National Association of Counties.

Carol S. Sharrett, M.D. was recently appointed Director of the Department of Health. She graduated from the Medical College of Virginia in 1968, interned at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, followed by a residency at the Virginia Dept. of Health. Sharrett earned an MPH from Johns Hopkins and is Board Eligible in preventive medicine. Sharrett was director of the Arlington County Health Dept. the year prior to coming to Fairfax in 1987.

Nancy Vehrs, Clerk to the Board of Supervisors since 1990. Her office provides administrative and legislative support to the Board, including producing a written meeting summary; maintaining the County Code; and notifying applicants of Board land use decisions. Vehrs was born and raised in Manassas where she still resides. In 1980 she earned an economics degree at William & Mary and began her career with Fairfax County government in various agencies from Public Works to the Woodburn Mental Health Center to the Police Department. She volunteers with several groups from the Prince William Wildflower Society to the Ben Lomond Rose Garden.

In the City of Fairfax with a total government workforce of 350 persons the City Manager states that three women hold department head status.

Vivian Baltz has been Assistant City Manager, for 17 years. She serves as a deputy to the City Manager, responsible for management/oversight of several major programs, including legislative affairs, budget, and the capital improvement plan, and acts for the City Manager in his absence. She earned a BA in government, followed by extensive administrative experience prior to assuming her current position.

Laura Sitrin, Director of Finance, is a CPA and has held this position for one year. She had served previously as finance director in another city, as a county auditor, and a staff accountant. Her current primary duties are to direct and coordinate professional accounting and municipal finance functions to include financial planning, reporting, and administration. In addition to normal accounting and accounts maintenance functions, she is responsible for areas such as real estate assessment, purchasing, the City retirement system, and all debt issuance.

Gail Bohan, Director of Information Technology for four years, guides and coordinates a program to meet the Information Technology (IT) needs of all city departments. This includes assessing IT needs, recommending appropriate hardware and software, implementing solutions, and training users. Bohan holds an MS in information systems as well as an MPA. She had formerly been an IT branch manager , IT specialist, and management analyst.