‘A rock of continuity’ retires

J.Braxton Powell hadn't been working for the state long when his first boss showed what it takes to get ahead in state government.

Virginia had elected a Republican governor, Linwood Holton. Agency heads, all Democratic appointees, were tendering their resignations.

But not William L. Heartwell Jr., the commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission. He hadn't been on the job long, and he wanted to keep it.

Three days after his inauguration in January 1970, Holton called Heartwell into his office and asked him about his political affiliation.

"I've been a lifelong Republican for three days," Powell recalled Heartwell as saying.

Holton reappointed him. Heartwell stayed on until 1976, when he got a job in Washington. He died in 1997.

Powell, 64, stayed much longer. He retired at the end of last year after 40 years of state service. He had been the state treasurer since January 2006.

"The 40 years didn't seem like a long time, until someone reminded me it was four decades," Powell said in a phone interview.

While not well-known to the general public, Powell was to state employees. He signed their paychecks.

The state treasurer also serves as chairman of the Treasury Board, heads the Risk Management Division and leads the Unclaimed Property Division. The Department of the Treasury has about 120 employees.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine recently praised Powell as "a rock of continuity at the Department of the Treasury, making sure our treasury management systems work smoothly."

Kaine named Manju Ganeriwala, deputy secretary of finance since January 2006, as the new treasurer. Her appointment took effect Jan. 1.

Powell said he is proud that the department makes more than 12 million check payments a year and that most are done electronically.

Former Secretary of Finance Jody Wagner, whom Powell succeeded as treasurer, said he provided invaluable help to her when she became treasurer. She said people like Powell are the reason why Virginia has twice been voted the best-managed state in the nation.

She said Powell was able to function well because he is apolitical. He was appointed deputy state treasurer in 2000 by Gov. Jim Gilmore, a Republican, and reappointed in 2004 by Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat.

Powell started to work in state government in 1968 as a field service representative in the Roanoke office of the Virginia Employment Commission. A graduate of Virginia Tech, he went to the VEC office to look for a job. Instead of sending him elsewhere, the VEC hired him. He moved over to the treasury department 26 years ago.

Powell said he thinks the state functions well because it operates like a business.

In retirement, Powell and his wife plan to "fill in the dots" on some of the places in Southwest Virginia and in the Pacific West that they have missed during their travels.

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .