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By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - The Pike County Commission met in Executive Session during today's Commission meeting to deliberate on the choice of County Manager. Newly elected commissioner Jason Proctor was included in this discussion since he was sworn in prior to today's meeting.
Commissioners returned to the meeting to unanimously name Ron Alexander as their choice of County Manager.
Interim County Manager Rob Morton advised by phone this afternoon that Mr. Alexander has been offered the position, and he has accepted. His starting date will be January 13, 2020.
Thank you to First Bank of Pike for sponsoring Pike County Times’ Breaking News Alerts! First Bank of Pike has been serving customers in Pike County and the surrounding area since 1901 and offers Personal and Business banking with a personal touch. Services include checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and IRA’s. Mobile Banking and Bill Payment services are also available! Click here for more. Please let First Bank of Pike know that you appreciate their sponsorship of Breaking News Alerts on Pike County's only FREE online newspaper!
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By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - The Pike County Commission has been accepting applications for some time in an effort to hire a new county manager. 22 applications were submitted to the Pike County Commission with the number being whittled down to just a handful who were interviewed in November at an Executive Session. The final applicants were chosen during Executive Session at the November 26, 2019 Commission Meeting.
The process has gone slowly since commissioners wanted the new District 3 Commissioner to be involved in this process. Jason Proctor won the Runoff election by 8 votes last night and will be seated at the table in the District 3 Commission seat at the December 11, 2019 County Commission meeting. It is expected that commissioners will go into Executive Session and choose the next county manager at that time since that is the 14th day after the announcement of finalists were announced.
The finalists are Ron Alexander from Garden City, GA and Brandon Rogers, Director of Building and Grounds for Pike County. On a side note, Ron Alexander was finalist in 2018 when Bobby Bickley was chosen as County Manager.
Pike County Times has provided a copy of the advertisement as well as employment information from both candidates.
Advertisement
The Pike County Board of Commissioners is seeking qualified applicants for the position of County Manager. Pike County has 130 employees and an annual budget of $14.4 million. The population of Pike County is approximately 17,941. The position of County Manager is appointed by, and reports to, the 5-member Board of Commissioners. 4 of the Commissioners are elected by district, and the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners is elected at-large.
Applicants should have knowledge of quality growth management practices, government finance, human resource management, community planning, and rural public works management; and, applicants must have strong leadership/communication skills. Applicants must be able to develop/implement goals/objectives.
The position oversees, manages and supervises all county departments and employees, except for the employees of elected officials or constitutional officers. Duties will include the administration of the day-to-day operations of the county government pursuant to the ordinances, resolutions and policies implemented by the Board of Commissioners.
A degree in Business and/or Public Administration is preferred, but a combination of education/experience/motivation will be considered. County Official certification is also preferred, but a commitment to complete such certification promptly will be considered.
Pike County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
County Manager Candidates (in alphabetical order)
Ron E. Alexander – Richmond Hill, Georgia
Ron E. Alexander is the Community Development/Planning & Zoning Director for Garden City. He is a Master Code Professional with 27 years of experience with local government and the built environment. [Note from the Editor: Much of this information is pulled directly from the 2018 article in which Mr. Alexander was one of two finalists for this position. Bobby Bickley was chosen in a 3-2 vote to be the County Manager at that time. You can read this article at www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BREAKINGNEWScountymanager11.2.18.html.]
His work experiences include working for Garden City as the Director of Community Development/Planning and Zoning Director/Building Official. He has served in this capacity from August of 2014 to the present date. His current job includes administration of his department as well as the various duties that accompany this job such as building inspections, code enforcement, plan review, floodplain management regional planning, local state fire marshal and the administration for Planning Commissioner and Zoning Appeals as well as administering the annual operating and capital budgets for the two departments.
According to his resume, he has helped to design, promote, and administer plans and policies pertaining to land use, zoning, utilities, community facilities, housing and transportation. His duties include conducting public meetings pertaining to land use and community as well as coordinating land use and community plans in Garden City. His current duties also include drafting bid documents, design of facilities, and dealing with construction oversight and administration of contracts. He also assists the City Manager and Public Works and Fire Departments with site infrastructure projects and oversees various city programs involving storm sewer and building codes.
From June of 2012 to August of 2014, he worked for the Bryan County Board of Commissioners in Richmond Hill, Georgia as a Building Official. In that capacity, he performed building inspections, code enforcement, plan reviews, management of flood plains, and acted as the local state fire marshal for unincorporated Bryan County and the City of Pembroke. He handled the operating and capital budgets for this department, oversaw employees, and coordinated the administration of capital improvement projects. His position gave him experience with bid documents, design of facilities, oversight of construction projects, and administration of contracts. In his capacity as Building Official, he worked with the County Manager and the Public Works and Fire Departments on capital improvement projects in support of the projects site infrastructure. As with his latest position, he worked with the Community Rating System program and the Building Code Effectiveness Grading System program.
From February of 2009 to June of 2012, he was employed by Government Services IPT as a Construction Engineer/Building Official in Jacksonville, North Carolina with an emphasis on “project management and building department services for military public private ventures across the United States.” His duties included technical review and compliance of construction plans, compliance to code as well as consulting and inspections on building construction. He performed scheduling, prepared cost estimate preparations, approved monthly payment applications for contractors, and issued substantial completion certificates.
From May of 1996 to May of 2008, he was employed by the Henry County Board of Commissioners as the Chief Commercial Inspector/Plan Reviewer/combination Commercial and Residential Inspector/Maintenance Technician. In this position, he supervised, trained and evaluated commercial staff, developed the commercial department budget, and handled the plan review, permitting and calculated impact fees for commercial projects. He was also the department liaison between municipal departments and “implemented a one stop shop for the commercial permitting process.”
Prior to 1996, he worked as a Maintenance Technician for the Centers for Disease Control for 5 years and as a painter for the IBEW 613 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for almost 5 years.
Additional accomplishments that are listed in this packet include: 1 of 48 Master Code Professionals (ICC) Georgia, 1 of 8 Fire Code Officials (ICC) Georgia, 2017 Hurricane Irma and 2016 Hurricane Mathew Emergency Management Team-Preparedness and Reentry, 2016 Garden City’s Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) from a 7/6 to a 4/4 rating, 2014 Bryan County’s Community Rating System Program (CRS) in as a 6 rating which simultaneously brought the Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) in as a 5/5 rating, Developed and lead training programs in Garden City to improve employee productivity, job satisfaction, and workplace morale, and 2010 Set up policy for Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAFAC) for Camp Lejeune Marine base for protection of potable water systems.
Mr. Alexander advised commissioners that he could begin work in Pike County four weeks after the offer was made to him to become the new County Manager.
Brandon Rogers – Pike County, Georgia
Brandon Rogers is the Director of Buildings and Grounds here in Pike County government. He would like to continue to advance his career with the Pike County Board of Commissioners and utilize his 14 years of management, supervision, and administrative experience to benefit mutual growth and success.
From 2014 to the present, Brandon has served as Director of Buildings and Grounds here in Pike County. He has prepared various cost analysis and facilitated changes to increase efficiency. One of these changes saved $297,500 over a five year period. He has managed the maintenance and landscaping for 15 county buildings and properties, developed, managed, and monitored the building and grounds operating budget an met budget targets, worked with contractors, vendors, and other county officials to ensure that a proactive maintenance schedule is maintained, and worked closely with the county manager to ensure that the county has the most up to date, safe, and financially sound facilities.
From October 2011 to the present, Brandon has served in the Georgia Army National Guard. He served as a Battle Captain for the Advanced Operation Base South and as a Liaison Officer at Bagram Airforce Base managing flights, accounting for personnel, and sensitive items for 134 soldiers during Operation Freedom Sentinel in 2019, served as a Combat Engineer in Operation Enduring Freedom from 2013-2014, operated and maintained equipment in excess of $600,000, developed and lead training programs in preparation for combat, and maintained security of the local areas and performed route clearance for visiting high-ranking officials.
From January 2005 through August 2014, Brandon was the Assistant Store Manager of Lowes Home Improvement Inc. in Griffin, Georgia. He managed a store with an annual sales budget of $22.7 million, trained new employees by providing knowledge of specific store tasks and policies, communicated with vendors regarding back order availability, future inventory, and special orders, ensured superior customer service experience by addressing customer concerns, demonstrating empathy, and resolving problems immediately, and managed daily store operations including opening and closing procedures as well as maintaining a minimum of 120 store employees.
Brandon graduated from Pike County High School and continued his education at Griffin Technical College. He graduated from both with a diploma and from what is now Southern Crescent Technical College with diplomas in carpentry, blue print reading, and cabinet making. He has received specialized training in the form of Management Training, Senior Leadership Training, and Advanced Leadership Training. He also cited over fourteen years of management, supervision, and administrative experience as well as working directly with the previous county manager for four year as additional reasons for consideration of his application.
He would be immediately available to work as county manager if he is chosen for this position.
Closing
There is a 14 day waiting period from the date of the announcement until the Pike County Board of Commissioners can publicly name its choice for Pike County Manager. Will it be Ron Alexander from Garden City, GA or Brandon Rogers, Director of Building and Grounds for Pike County?
Pike County Times will release this information to Breaking News subscribers on the morning of the meeting as soon as it is announced. It will go on Pike County Times later at some point later that day. Thank you for supporting Pike County Times!
Thank you to First Bank of Pike for sponsoring Pike County Times’ Breaking News Alerts! First Bank of Pike has been serving customers in Pike County and the surrounding area since 1901 and offers Personal and Business banking with a personal touch. Services include checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and IRA’s. Mobile Banking and Bill Payment services are also available! Click here for more. Please let First Bank of Pike know that you appreciate their sponsorship of Breaking News Alerts on Pike County's only FREE online newspaper!
If you want to find out about how you can get Breaking News Alerts, click here. Thanks for reading and supporting Pike County Times.com!