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ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Commissioners held a Special Called Meeting on Friday, August 9, 2024 at 5 p.m. in which the public was advised that now former County Manager Brandon Rogers had resigned and appointed County Attorney Rob Morton as the Interim County Manager.

The agenda for the Special Called Meeting was sent out at 11:46 a.m. on Friday, August 9. Rogers resigned with an emailed resignation less than two hours later that said, "Please accept this as my official resignation letter effective immediately."

Here are the notes from that meeting: pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC8.9.24.html.

Why Did Rogers Resign?

No reason or statement was given at that Special Called Meeting as to why Rogers had resigned, but a statement has now been given to Pike County Times that is printed verbatim as it was sent by Interim County Manager Rob Morton.

"Per your request in connection with my previous response to your recent open records request, I am providing you with the following statement:

"I received information that there had been an improper use of heavy equipment belonging to the county. I received this information on August 8, 2024. Subsequently, a called meeting was scheduled for Friday, August 9, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. Prior to the called meeting, I received the written resignation of the county manager, Brandon Rogers, on or about 1:11 p.m. on Friday, August 9, 2024. [Note from the Editor: There was a typo in this quote. I have changed it from April 8 and 9 to August 8 and 9 in the second and third sentences. I apologize for not catching that error.]

Past History

Public Works Director Todd Goolsby was terminated by the county manager with the approval of the Board of Commissioners after a vote was taken following Executive Session at the May 15, 2024 regular called County Commission meeting.

County equipment had been sitting on location as Public Works was preparing for the Georgia Department of Transportation to make a tight turning lane at Hill Street and Highway 18 which is now in progress. This article can be read here: pikecountytimes.com/secondary/GDOT8.19.24.html.

To read the original article regarding terminations from May, go to: http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BREAKINGNEWSterminations5.18.24.html.

Closing

Will the Pike County Board of Commissioners push for a written policy to protect taxpayers from unauthorized use of county equipment?

Will a system be put into place to either track the equipment at Public Works by some sort of GPS system or track the amount of fuel and hours used on the equipment in a logbook of some sort?

Only time will tell because Pike County Times has asked for this information by open records after each incident and been advised that nothing exists at this time.

Pike County Times will continue to cover county commission meetings and broadcast them live through the Pike County Times Facebook page.

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