New Administrator Gets a Quick Tour of County

Norman Hickey came to town Thursday, and San Diego County’s new top administrator was all smiles, sparring with the local press and telling everyone how impressed he was with his new bosses--the five members of the county Board of Supervisors.

But Hickey would not commit himself at this early date to the changes he plans to make in county government.

At a morning press conference and private luncheon interview, Hickey was careful to avoid revealing any preconceptions he has about his new job, which he will start in late January at a salary of $107,500 a year. He was equally evasive about his private life, particularly the religious beliefs he holds as a born-again Christian.

Hickey arrived in town from Florida Wednesday night, listened in Thursday morning on a meeting of the Criminal Justice Council and then, after meeting the press, took a helicopter tour of the county with Sheriff John Duffy and David Janssen, the county’s acting chief administrative officer. He was due to head back today to Hillsborough County, Fla., where his job as county administrator will end Jan. 14.

At his first press conference, Hickey seemed comfortable under the glare of television lights and the pressure of radio microphones and a half-dozen newspaper reporters. A former Marine Corps sergeant, Hickey often began his answers to reporters’ questions with “Yes, sir” or “No, sir,” and he thanked local reporters who traveled to Florida this week for the “nice articles” they wrote about him.

Hickey joked--as he has several times already--that his son’s recent graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy had nothing to do with his getting the job in San Diego, which used to be known strictly as a Navy town. Hickey’s best attempt at humor probably came when he was asked if there were any people in Hillsborough County who were glad to see him leave.

“I would hope there’d be a few happy to see me come to San Diego--some that weren’t even indicted,” he quipped, in a reference to his role in helping to expose three Hillsborough County commissioners who were convicted of public corruption.

But when talk turned to serious discussion of San Diego County’s problems and its future, Hickey was less forthcoming. He did nothing to counter comments from his Florida associates who described him as rather plain, a plodder who is neither flashy nor flamboyant but gets things done over the long run.

“I’m going to approach it with a very, very open mind,” Hickey said.

He promised that no heads will roll until he has finished a thorough evaluation of the county’s departments and their directors. But, he said, he would not hesitate to fire someone if the need arose.

He said he considered himself most expert on issues of public finance, public safety and “human relationships.” And though he mentioned health services, road construction and jail overcrowding as three local problems he was eager to tackle, Hickey offered no comments on their possible solution or the method he will use to tackle them. He said he would offer the supervisors a five-year plan laying out his goals for the county by next summer.

Hickey said he’s a fan of openness in government, but that philosophy doesn’t extend to his personal life, the privacy of which he defends by deftly dodging questions directed his way, especially those about his deeply held religious beliefs.

“I don’t like the term religious--that connotes all kinds of things. We’re practicing Christians,” he said, explaining that as such he and his wife, Dolores, have “deep-seated feelings” toward other people, share many of their worldly goods and “read Scriptures on a regular basis.” They do not, however, regularly attempt to sway others to share their faith, he said, and Hickey said his conservative beliefs do not make him any less a backer of public health and social service programs, which he supports.

Hickey is proud of the time he spent in Vietnam from 1967 to 1971 as a civilian adviser to the government there. Someday, he said, he may write a book about the South Vietnamese villagers who were willing to take responsibility for their hamlets despite knowing that such a role could easily lead to their assassination. He avoids discussion of any connection his mission had to the Central Intelligence Agency by saying there was none “except for the sharing of intelligence.”

Hickey said his decision to interrupt his career in local government to spend five years overseas was a demonstration of what he will do when he is committed to a cause.

“Some people wave a flag,” he said. “I went.”