Ronald Hart was greeted with smiles and pats on the back Tuesday as the Frederick County Commissioners and division directors welcomed him back to the county's top post.Hart, a former professional baseball player and longtime government employee, will return to being county manager Sept. 4.
He replaces Doug Browning, who announced earlier this month his plans to become the vice president of administration for Frederick Community College. Hart and Browning will have several weeks of overlap before Browning leaves.
Hart played minor league baseball for the Cleveland Indians after graduating from Frederick High School. In 1987, he was inducted into the Frederick County Sports Hall of Fame.
He began at the county in 1971 as an administrative assistant. He took the county's lowest paying job and worked his way up to county manager in 1999, he said. During the same time, he served in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Hart has been a Realtor with Real Estate Teams LLC in Frederick since he retired as county manager in 2002. He lives with his wife, Jo Ellen, in Woodsboro .
Hart said he views himself as a public servant and hopes to maintain the quality of life in the county.
While he was county manager, he worked with three of the current commissioners: President Jan Gardner, David Gray and John L. Thompson Jr.
He retired for personal reasons, but told the commissioners about six months ago he would be interested in coming back if the job ever became open, he said.
When Browning's resignation was announced, the commissioners called him in for interviews and offered him the job at an annual salary of $160,000, about $10,000 less than Browning makes as county manager. Hart will stop receiving retirement benefits while employed.
"I feel very confident he will do a great job," Gardner said.
Hart said he supports the county's recent decisions to create new divisions for parks and recreation and emergency management.
"This is absolutely the opportunity of a lifetime for me to come back to public service," he said.
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