Prince William officials name new county executive

After conducting a nationwide search with the help of an outside consulting firm, Prince William County officials appointed one of their own, Deputy County Executive Melissa S. Peacor, to be the county's new leader.

The search for a new county executive began in July, about a month after former County Executive Craig S. Gerhart stepped down to take a job with Amtrak.

Gerhart's announcement came just one day after three county employees were indicted for allegedly pulling off one of the largest bid-rigging and embezzlement scandals in county history. He said his departure was unrelated to the scandal.

Peacor joined the county government in 1985 and became Prince William's first strategic planning coordinator. She implemented the county's first citizen-based strategic planning process before becoming budget director in 1997. In 1999, she moved to assistant county executive, later retitled deputy county executive, and served alongside Gerhart until his departure.

Prince William officials said Peacor is a "can do" person, whose expertise has helped the county keep residential tax bills low over the years. Recently she spearheaded the efforts to revamp the Office of Information Technology, which was rocked by the scandal last year. Peacor scrutinized the department's budget and helped find nearly $7 million in savings.