be encouraged to pursue it. “I had
never heard of Blacksburg,” she confessed. “I was
from Maryland. Blacksburg seemed like the other side of the
world to me, which in Virginia it almost is. So I said, okay,
and I put resume together. Interestingly, a colleague of mine
in the budget office told me that I should like that job. I
interviewed. There were 114 candidates, and I was
successful.”
DAWN OF ELECTRONIC VILLAGE
Bonnie took the job in Blacksburg right on
the cusp of the electronic dawn for the former sleepy little
Montgomery County town. Known primarily as a college town, home
of Virginia Tech, town officials often felt they were on the
coat tails of the university. But this town and gown
relationship was soon to change in a major way.
Bonnie explained, “We got tons of
credit for the Blacksburg Electronic Village [BEV, early
program to engage citizens as well as academics in the Internet
and email communications] but we never could have done that on
our own. I remember when it was being rolled out and I was part
of the committee that was discussing how we were going to make
this [BEV] public. There were still some technology glitches
and it was like, ‘we cannot go public with
I consider Bonnie to be a wonderful mentor
and advocate. She has a very approachable style and never over
reacts to situations. She makes it easy for me to come to her
with a challenging situation and know that she is going to
consider it from all angles and give feedback that is practical
and doable. She has such a wealth of experience in leadership
that you know you can trust her judgement. As a leader, she
makes it easy for us to follow her advice with a great comfort
level that she is going to lead you in the right direction.
Bonnie creates calm where others create chaos.
- Terri Proffitt
Downtown Executive Director
Lynch’s Landing, Inc.
Downtown Executive Director
Lynch’s Landing, Inc.
I have known Bonnie for ten years and have
worked closely with her on the board of the VLGMA for five
years. Her leadership, work ethic, dedication, and initiative
are unsurpassed. Bonnie has the ability to consistently see
both the big picture and to focus on the operational details
necessary to make VLGMA the premiere local government management
associations in the nation. Bonnie is and exceptional
professional who will be an effective and successful president
of our association. I’m looking forward to working
closely with her over the next year.
- Robert A. “Rob”
Stalzer
Fairfax County
Deputy Executive
Fairfax County
Deputy Executive