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ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Commissioners came out of Executive Session at the March 12, 2025 meeting, and the two finalists for county manager were announced to the public. The finalists are Rob Morton, the current County Attorney and current Interim County Manager, and Jeremy Gilbert, current Planning and Zoning Director.

Chairman Briar Johnson announced the names of the two candidates and asked commissioners if there was anything else that they wanted to add.

At that point, Pike County Times’ Editor Becky Watts interrupted the meeting to ask if the Board was going to clarify whether Morton was going to be just the county manager (or if he was applying to be both the county manager and the county attorney).

Combining Two County Positions?

Newly elected commissioner Ken Pullin addressed this issue with his comments before there could be a discussion of whether or not to make a motion for a citizen to speak. Citizens are not allowed to speak in a county commission meeting unless there a motion, a second, and a majority vote of approval to allow them to speak.

Pullin said that he thought it should be made very clear to the public that the Board is not looking to hire a county attorney. Johnson replied that this was Pullin’s opinion.

Pullin replied that he had not seen a job put out clarifying that if Morton was hired, that there would be a separate position for county manager and county attorney. He added that he didn’t think that was Johnson’s plan. Johnson said that his plan was to announce the two candidates.

“So to be clear, Mr. Morton is applying to keep his county attorney position and also apply to be county manager,” Pullin said. “So, if he gets this job, he will occupy both positions at once in our county.” Nothing further was said, and the meeting was then adjourned at 10:46 a.m.

Closing

Pike County Times will be following up on the possibility of combining the two positions in a later article. This article will include information about the one county in the state of Georgia that had a similar situation but voted to separate the county administrator and county attorney positions in a meeting just last week.

Commissioners will announce the new county manager at some point that is at least 14 days from today as applicable to state law in OCGA 50-18-72(11).

“BREAKING NEWS: Commissioners Begin Process for Finding a New County Manager” can be read in its entirety with no paywall at www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BREAKINGNEWScountymanager2.27.25.html.

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