As a candidate, attorney Daniel A. Gecker drafted a "Contract with Chesterfield" outlining his goals to change Chesterfield County's vision for the future if elected to the Board of Supervisors.

Like the three other new faces on the five-member panel, Gecker declared the county needed a board that knew when to say no to development and would guard the county's finances.

After 131 days in office, Gecker says he and the other new supervisors -- Dorothy A. Jaeckle, Marleen K. Durfee and James M. "Jim" Holland -- are settling into their seats and poised to follow through on their promises.

"We've had a large learning curve, but we've tackled some of the issues and we're doing pretty well," said Gecker, who jumped from the county's Planning Commission to the Board of Supervisors representing Midlothian District.

"There are a lot more questions publicly asked by supervisors today than there ever were before," he said. "In the past, some things were dealt with in private."

"There was a sense by citizens that they did not have input into the county process," explained Jaeckle, the new Bermuda District supervisor.

Jaeckle said despite differing backgrounds and personalities, the new board was working well together, but she admitted she was still getting a handle on the transition from citizen to supervisor.

"It's still the beginning," she said. "But I would say that being on the other side; the breadth of issues is wider than I thought."

Growth, and how it is managed, was at the core of the election -- the first turnover for the majority of the board since 1991 in a county struggling with suburban sprawl and a growing population of more than 300,000.

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Addressing the consequences of development -- the county's $1 billion-plus in road needs and crowded schools -- is no easy task for the new leadership, said County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier, who noted that the board has been conscientiously cautious thus far.

"I think that by focusing on the planning process they are doing all the preliminary work you would expect to see done when you talk about changing the direction of development in the county, Stegmaier said. "In essence, I think they're still doing their homework."

He said the board's chairman and lone veteran -- 19-year Clover Hill Supervisor A.S. "Art" Warren -- has proved to be a stabilizing force.

And while the supervisors have yet to make landmark decisions on growth, they have hinted at a more cautious approach by voting to delay the 5,440-home Roseland development case and seeking tighter land-use standards on the Upper Swift Creek Plan Amendment. Definitive answers are looming with the Swift Creek plan, due back before the board next month, and Roseland, in July.

Those issues, both largely in the Matoaca District, have kept its supervisor, Durfee, in the spotlight.

A community activist before the election, Durfee has long stressed the need for a more guarded approach to development. Facing the ceaseless pressures of development in the growing county is challenging but not overwhelming, she said.

"I don't really see it as a big change for me," she said of her new seat. "Involvement has always been something I thrive on."

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State Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, whose district encompasses part of the county, says it's too early to tell how the new board will develop.

"They're still taking a test drive right now," said Watkins, who has development interests in the county. He warned that the new board needed to be realistic in its approach to growth in a county increasingly being compared with some Northern Virginia localities.

"You have to be careful, because growth is jobs and business, and there are people not too far from here who would give their eyeteeth to have some of that. It's one thing to be smart; it's another thing to walk away from growth," Watkins said. "Be careful what you ask for, you might get it."

One upcoming issue will offer the new leaders an opportunity to directly shape the future. An effort is under way to roll the county's current 21 area-specific land-use plans into one comprehensive document as a guideline for growth.

Holland, the new Dale District supervisor, said that process, like others for the new board, would rely heavily on residents' input.

"I've heard a lot of great things from the citizenry that they're finding a board that is responsive to the needs of the community," he said pointing to the recent adoption of a lower-than-proposed operating budget of $1.28 billion and a 2-cent reduction in the real estate tax rate.

"I think we've shown that this is a board that is listening to the people," Holland said.
Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or whester@timesdispatch.com.