Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Correspondence and Subject Files of the Virginia Secretary of Administration, 1994-1998. Accession 35870, State Government Records Collection, Tha Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Accession 35870 was transfered from the Office of the Virginia Secretary of Administration, by Arlene Smith, on 19 June 1998, to the Library of Virginia for permanent retention.

Processing Information

This collection has been processed using minimal processing standards: the original arrangement has been maintained, the container list is brief and simple, and the records have not been refoldered and fasteners have not been removed.

Material found loose in the boxes was foldered and given a title determined by the archivist. In cases where folder titles were inaccurate, the titles have been corrected to more adequately describe the material.

Biographical Information

The Office of Administration was established in 1966 as part of the Office of the Governor to assist the chief executive in carrying out his duties. Several agencies including the divisions of the Budget, Personnel, Engineering and Building and Planning reported to the Commissioner of Administration. This system was inadequate. In 1970, the Governor's Management Commission Study recommended the creation of six "Deputy Governors" to assist the Chief Executive in his managerial duties. Compatible functions of government were grouped under these administrative heads, who would serve as the Governors top management team or "secretariats," as they are called now.

Governor Linwood Holton's top priority for the 1972 session of the General Assembly was a proposal for a Governor's Cabinet, reorganizing state agencies into six major departments--each headed by a secretary appointed by the governor. The Office of Administration was made one of these six departments. The office of Secretary of Administration was created on April 8, 1972, by an act passed by the General Assembly. Governor Holton appointed T. Edward Temple, the Commissioner of Administration since 1970, as the first Secretary of Administration. When Temple took office on July 1, 1972, he was responsible for the divisions of the Budget, Personnel, Engineering and Buildings, Automated Data Processing, Justice and Crime Prevention, State Planning and Community Affairs, Council on the Environment, State Board of Elections and the Office of Special Programs. The Office has undergone a series of administrative reorganizations since 1972. On April 12, 1976, the Legislature combined the secretariats for administration and finance, effective July 1, 1976. On July 1, 1984, the offices were separated. The Secretary of Administration is a member of the Governor's Cabinet, and is appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. Currently, the Secretary of Administration is responsible for the direction or jurisdiction over the following state agencies and boards: Department of Charitable Gaming, Compensation Board, State Board of Elections, Department of Employment Dispute Resolution, Department of General Services, Department of Human Resource Management, Council on Human Rights, Public Broadcasting Board, and the Department of Veterans Services.

T. Edward Temple, the first Secretary of Administration, announced in August 1973 that he was leaving state service effective January 1974. In December 1973, Governor-elect Mills E. Godwin, Jr., announced the appointment of Maurice B. Rowe, III, as Secretary of Administration. Rowe had served as Secretary of Commerce and Resources in the Holton administration. On July 1, 1976, the secretariates of administration and finance were combined. Rowe served until the end of the Godwin administration in January 1978 when he became Secretary of Commerce and Resources in the Dalton administration. In December 1977 Governor-elect John N. Dalton picked Charles B. Walker, the state comptroller, as Secretary of Administration and Finance. The office wielded great influence and authority under Walker who was known as the "Little Governor". Walker resigned in June 1981 to become a vice-president for Ethyl Corporation. Stuary Connock, state budget and planning director, served as Secretary of Administration and Finance until the end of Dalton's term in January 1982.

Governor-elect Charles S. Robb, the first Democrat to be elected governor since 1965, did not retain any of Dalton's cabinet secretaries. Robb appointed Wayne F. Anderson, a former Alexandria city manager, Secretary of Administration and Finance. Anderson announced his resignation in May 1984 to join the faculty of George Mason University. His resignation was prompted by a cabinet reorganization to take effect on July 1, 1984 which divided the Secretary of Administration and Finance into separate secretariats and combined the secretariats of transportation and public safety. Governor Robb appointed Secretary of Transportation Andrew B. Fogarty as new Secretary of Administration. Fogarty served until June 1985 when he became Sectretary of Transportation and Public Safety following the resignation of Franklin E. White. David K. McCloud, Robb's chief of staff, assumed the duties of Secretary of Administration for the remainder of Robb's term.

In December 1985, Governor-elect Gerald L. Baliles chose Carolyn J. Moss, head of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise under Governor Robb, as Secretary of Administration. Moss served until the end of Baliles' term in 1990. Governor-elect L. Douglas Wilder appointed Ruby G. Martin, a Richmond attorney, as Secretary of Administration. In January 1994 Governor-elect George Allen, the first Republican elected governor since 1977, appointed his campaign manager, Michael E. Thomas, Secretary of Administration. Thomas served until the end of Allen's term in January 1998. Governor James S. Gilmore appointed Thomas Deputy Secretary of Technology in August 1998. In January 1998 Governor-elect James S. Gilmore III named G. Bryan Slater as Secretary of Administration. Slater also served as Gilmore's Deputy Chief of Staff. He worked on Gilmore's campaign for attorney general in 1993 and served as his director of administration when Gilmore was Virginia Attorney General (1994-1997). Slater resigned in March 2001 to work for the Republican National Committee which Gilmore chaired. He was replaced by his deputy, Donald L. Moseley who served until the end of the Gilmore administration in January 2002.

Governor-elect Mark R. Warner selected Sandra Bowen as Secretary of Administration in January 2002. Bowen had previously served as Special Assistant to Governor Charles S. Robb, and as Secretary of the Commonwealth during the administration of Governor Gerald L. Baliles. She was also the Director of Gubernatorial Transition between the Robb and Baliles administrations. Secretary Bowen served under Governor Warner for his entire term, and was replaced in 2006 when Governor-elect Timothy Kaine selected Viola Baskerville as his Secretary of Administration.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of Correspondence with Secretary of Administration Agencies, Governor's Working Papers, Correspondence with other Secretariats, Subject Files, General Assembly and Legislative Studies. Secretary of Administration during this period was Michael E. Thomas.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series: