Prince William County Executive announces retirement

Prince William County Executive Christopher Martino announced his retirement today.

The chief of the second-largest county government in Virginia will step down on December 31. Martino has served in the role since January 2016, replacing Melissa Peacor. During his time in the role, Martino has helped drive multiple initiatives from the Board of County Supervisors. These include implementing sweeping changes to the county's fire and rescue department and serving for the past 10 months on the newly-formed Racial and Social Justice Commission. Martino oversaw the implementation of a new "system" chief system that gave the county's career fire chief more authority over the many volunteer firefighters who work in the county. Before, volunteers reported only to their respective volunteer chiefs, who had ultimate control over their individual departments. Both fire and rescue personnel and police officers received pay raises under Martino's watch. A year later, all county employees received pay raises. Recently, the social justice commission, which is also made up of appointees from each member of the Board of County Supervisors, has been talking about the continued placement of police officers in schools and critical race theory. Martino came to Prince William County in February 1996 as the Director of Finance, serving as the chief financial officer responsible for the administration of the county's financial affairs. He was promoted to Deputy County Executive in March 2010. He provided oversight for several departments, including Human Resources, Information Technology, Finance, Budget, and Legislative Affairs. In that role, he also served as the Deputy Emergency Operations Director and the liaison with the Prince William County Schools.