This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. If you enjoy reading Pike County Times, consider buying an advertisement for your business or sending a donation to support the only free online newspaper in Pike County.

Donations can be sent to: The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. You can also donate through www.venmo.com/u/pikecountytimes, $pikecountytimes, and PayPal.Me/PikeCountyTimesLLC.

Thanks for supporting Pike County's only free online newspaper!

ZEBULON - After 20 minutes of deliberation in executive session, the Pike County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to appoint Rob Morton as the County Manager and remain as the County Attorney in today's county commission meeting.

Commissioners Ken Pullin and James Jenkins received applause from many in the audience when they told citizens in the meeting why they did not support this motion and were going to vote against it.

Pullin said that one of the justifications on this decision for allowing the same person to serve in both positions is that the commissioners know what is best for the county even though we’ve heard from citizens against this decision. He said that there are times when commissioners have to make tough decisions like the budget and easy decisions like which roads to pave or who to allow to use the courthouse, but he said that he doesn’t consider this to be a tough decision. He said that constituents all over the county and not just in his district understand that combining these positions isn’t in the best interest of Pike County.

He said that he shared his thoughts on this decision on Facebook. He said that while people have been very nice to Mr. Morton and said that he’s done a great service to the county, the public has made their voice loud and clear against this. He said that he thinks it's easy to listen to constituents on this.

He also gave a list of other reasons not to do this. No other county in Georgia is doing this because they know that there is a separation of duties, roles, responsibilities, and powers that these two positions have. He read from the county ordinances that the county manager shall be the chief administrative officer responsible for efficient administration of all county departments. It also says that the county manager shall devote all work and time to the county.

The county attorney’s job is to provide legal advice and protect Pike County. One of the most important jobs is to keep us and the county manager out of trouble and represent us in litigation. He said that he and a majority of the constituents in Pike County see this as two separate roles.

Pullin advised that Ken Gerrard from the State said that there is no clear guidance, but combining the two positions is “unorthodox and opens up opportunities for conflicts.” Gerrard went on to say that the county manager operates independently of the attorney, and that the natural checks and balances may be compromised if the two positions are combined. Pullin stressed that our code says two separate people.

He also said that only two people out of hundreds who have spoken to him have been in favor of this. He said that he is against this but will support Mr. Morton as county manager. I hope this works well because if it does, it will benefit everyone in the county, but he said that can’t support voting for it. There was applause from the crowd in attendance at the meeting when he finished speaking.

Commissioner James Jenkins said that he agrees “wholeheartedly” with what Commissioner Pullin said and that he wanted to add something to that. He said that the new contract needs to be done by outside counsel which was also suggested by Gerrard.

He said that he thinks the world of Morton and that this is not a personal issue against him. He said that Morton has always been accommodating when he called for whatever he needed but said that he going to vote no as well. There was applause from the crowd in attendance at the meeting when he finished speaking.

Chairman Briar Johnson said that this will not be long-term -- maybe 3 or 5 years. He said that it will save the county money even if the county has to hire outside counsel. He said that the county has run well when Morton has been the interim county manager, and he hopes that this is smooth as well.

He said that he appreciated Commissioner Jenkins’ and Pullin’s opinions on this but also agreeing to work with Morton as a team. “We can disagree, but we’re still a team,” he said.

The motion to appoint Rob Morton as county manager as he also serves as the county attorney was approved in a 3-2 majority vote with Jenkins and Pullin opposed.

A motion was then made to compensate Morton $3,000 each month since August 2024 through end of the fiscal year June 30, 2025 for his work as interim county manager. This was approved in a 5-0 vote.

The last of the three motions that Johnson mentioned as they came back into session was to finalize a contract and compensate Morton $65,000 for the county manager position in the adoption of the 2025-2026 budget.

In the discussion, Commissioner Tim Daniel said that he is not opposed to having outside counsel look at this. It was specified that someone will present the contract and then the external attorney will review it. Commissioner Tim Guy included that in his motion and Commissioner Tim Daniel approved it for his second to this motion.

The commissioners approved finalizing a contract with Morton in the amount of $65,000 that will be included in the upcoming budget year and seeking outside counsel to review the contract in a 5-0 vote.

The final motion of the meeting was made by Commissioner Ken Pullin to terminate the 2019 county attorney contract between Morton and the county. It failed in a 2-3 vote with Commissioners Jenkins and Pullin in favor and Commissioners Johnson, Daniel, and Guy opposed.

The public can read a copy of the current county attorney contract as well as reading what is said in state law and Pike County ordinances by clicking here to read “BREAKING NEWS: A Review of County Manager Finalists” published on March 17, 2025: BREAKINGNEWScmfinalistsreview3.17.25.html.

The motion to adjourn was made at 10:39 a.m.

Pike County Times expects there to be some sort of a transition agreement between Morton and the county but has no information on what that transition agreement would look like concerning the various job positions that Morton currently holds.

Morton is currently serving as the attorney for the cities of Meansville, Williamson, and Zebulon in Pike County as well as legal counsel for more than one board and authority in Pike County, and as judge for more than one city -- not located in Pike County.

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!

INFORMATION ABOUT RECEIVING BREAKING NEWS ALERTS CAN BE FOUND, HERE.

Thanks for reading and supporting Pike County Times.com!