When Joyce Wilson comes back to Arlington next month, she will bring with her the envy of Yuma, Ariz.
Wilson was hired as the new Deputy County Manager and Chief Operating Officer for the county last month, and she will step into the new position when she begins the job on Oct. 14.
But it won't be Wilson's first experience with living in Arlington. Born in D.C., Wilson, 50, grew up in and around Arlington, and her 78-year-old mother still lives here. So the job is, in a way, a return home, she said.
It also brings Wilson closer to her grown daughter in Atlanta. "It’s easier to take a weekend trip there" from Arlington than it is from Arizona, she said.
Before going to Yuma, Wilson earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a master’s in public administration from Harvard. She then worked for a decade in the city administration of Richmond, and finished her term there as the assistant city manager and chief of staff.
Arlington will also bring Wilson back to her roots in public service. As Deputy County Manager, "she will be making the day-to-day decisions while [County Manager Ron Carlee] concentrates on strategic issues," said Richard Bridges, spokesman for the county.
That means focusing on the specific effects of county initiatives, Bridges said.
"Ron will be talking about vision for the county, economic development, the Columbia Pike area. Joyce will be concentrating… on a specific company that wants to relocate to the Pike area."
The nearly $130,000 a year position will be a return to the past for the county, which has not had a Deputy County Manager for five years. The last to serve in the position was William Donahue, who did not appoint a replacement when he became the County Manager in 1998.
She left Richmond around 1990, taking 3 years off after winning a fellowship from the Kellogg Foundation to study cities along international boundaries. The grant came as the North American Free Trade Agreement was first taking effect, Wilson said, making for especially interesting dynamics in towns on the U.S.-Mexican border, including Yuma.
"When the job [in Yuma] came along, it was a way to combine that research with my experience in city administration," she said.
<b>YUMA WAS ALSO</b> a challenge for Wilson, a test of her mettle, said Marilyn Young, a former mayor of Yuma who headed the city government when Wilson was hired.
"Her challenge, which went hand-in-hand with my challenge, is that we are both women," Young said. "There had never been a woman mayor or city administrator here. Joyce and I used to joke that the city was being run by a couple of grandmothers."
The two worked well together, Young said. "She was excellent. Really, there was not ever any problem that a general conversation couldn’t straighten out." Even when Wilson didn’t agree with the decisions of the city council, she carried them out. "She would offer her own voice, but when the council acted, her orders to staff were, ‘here’s what’s been passed, let’s get it done,’" Young said.
They weren’t met with universal acclaim. "She has her detractors," Young admitted. "But for the most part they’re some good old boys, the old guard, and some rednecks who feel that there’s no place in public life for a woman."
Included among the "good old boys," Young said, is the current mayor, Larry Nelson.
<b>BUT NELSON ALSO</b> said he enjoyed working with Wilson.
"She has such a can-do attitude, you can say here’s a project and you don’t have to worry about it anymore," he said. "The beautiful part about her is, Joyce and I can sit down disagree, disagree really violently about something, and then pass it on, and be on to the next thing the next day."
That led to real advances for Yuma, he said. The city, and its surroundings, grew at a breakneck pace over the last decade. Wilson put together the proposal that got the federal government to declare the region a National Heritage Area, bringing some preservation funding.
But she also created roads and parkways to accommodate the influx of new residents said Steve Binkley, the local manager for the state-wide utility company. "She’s improved the place, made this area a destination location," he said. "From a business perspective, she’s been a real partner. From a cultural perspective, in terms of arts and the quality-of-life, she’s been very supportive of the community."
For Wilson, those elements of life on the East Coast helped draw her back. "Professionally, it’s a really good opportunity," she said. "But it’s special because I’m moving back to the community where I grew up, and to the lifestyle of the East Coast. It’s more cosmopolitan in the Washington area, there are a lot of amenities in terms of culture and the arts. So I’m looking forward to being there again."