Pike County Times
The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. Click here to donate through PayPal. Becky Watts: Phone # 770-468-7583 editor@pikecountytimes.com
 
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This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. The Editor can be reached at 770-468-7583 or at editor(at)PikeCountyTimes(dot)com. Pike County Times is a website for citizens to keep up with local events and stay informed about Pike County government. It began on November 13, 2006 as a watchdog on county government and has turned into an online newspaper.

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Pike County's County Manager Form of Government
By Becky Watts

I went back through old write ups to research county managers here in Pike County. I pulled some of this information from a write up in 2007 in which I wrote the following about our county manager form of government. The premise still applies today.

What's the Big Deal about Hiring a County Manager?

The selection of a County Manager (CM) may not seem like a big deal, but in a CM form of government, it is the equivalent of hiring a CEO to run a Fortune 500 Company. The Board of Commissioners (BOC) compare to the Board of that Company because the BOC is not allowed to run the day to day operations in our county government without an interim CM or a permanent CM. (Note from the Editor: This history is important to me because we have to know where we've been in order to choose the best path to follow in the future. Feel free to drop me an editorial if you have a different take on this.)

Pike County entered into a CM form of government on March 27, 1998. The legislation was signed into law at the State level and the BOC passed Section 30.03 in our Code of Ordinances to specify the job duties of the CM. Keep in mind that the BOC chose for the CM to be the CEO for Pike County and in doing so, placed limitations on themselves. And if there was no CM, there would be a County Administrator who does essentially the same job with tighter restrictions or the BOC members would have to take portions of county government and be responsible for their sections essentially taking on a full-time job as a Commissioner.

A torrid relationship has existed between the BOC and the CM form of government. Allegations of misconduct, harsh words at meetings, resignations and terminations have been all too common in Pike County since its inception in 1998.

The First Two County Managers

On September 1, 1999, Joe Walter became the first CM with an annual salary of $45,000. After a short 15 months, Mr. Walter tendered his resignation to the BOC at a Regular Call BOC meeting on December 13, 2000 citing irreconcilable differences between himself as CM and the BOC.

David Patton was hired in March of 2001. The sparks continued to fly between the CM and BOC. Mr. Patton was fired at a Special Called Meeting on July 5, 2002. The position remained vacant through the end of 2002.

The First Lawsuit

This firing of the CM and the lack of an interim CM appointment for this long period of time resulted in the first lawsuit against the county by the Coalition for Responsible Government (CFRG). (Note from the Editor: Any time you hear the words "Interlocutory Order", this first lawsuit is what people are referring to.) Here's the long and the short of it. A Consent Interlocutory Order means that the BOC and the CFRG came to an understanding through their attorneys and the BOC agreed to abide by certain terms stated in the Interlocutory Order.

Those terms include the following: 1) The BOC will establish and maintain a practice of posting agendas for all public meetings prior to the meeting. The agendas will "reasonably and accurately identify the matters expected to be considered at the public meeting...in order to inform the public as to the true topics expected to be discussed at said meetings." 2) The original CM legislation was modified through the attorneys of both parties and is now law. Modifications include: a) clarification of the duties of the CM including the understanding that the CM has exclusive authority over all personnel in the county except those in elected positions and their offices. The BOC has hire and fire authority over the CM only; b) a vacancy in the CM position mandates that the BOC "will expeditiously proceed with due diligence to appoint an interim CM within 4 weeks of the vacancy of the office of CM" and that the BOC will advertise for the permanent position of CM "at the first available opportunity after the vacancy of the office of CM". and c) the parties agree that no county commissioner serving at time office of CM becomes vacant may be considered for either interim or permanent CM. The BOC also agreed to follow certain guidelines insure there would future violations open records meetings act.

The Third and Fourth County Managers

Thomas Painter began his stint as CM in May of 2003 with a salary of $52,000 per year. The power struggle between the BOC and the CM continued with CM Painter being fired at a Special Called Meeting (SCM) in much the same manner as CM Patton. The SCM was advertised over a holiday weekend. Ironically, this firing happened around the same time that the first lawsuit was being finalized. This firing resulted in Lawsuit number 2 by CFRG. More on that in a moment.

CM Painter was fired after just 8 months on the job. County Clerk Tabitha Weaver was named interim CM at the same meeting in January of 2004.

Interim CM Weaver resigned after 9 months as Interim CM in October of 2004. Tommy Burnsed was then named Interim CM in October of 2004. Tommy Burnsed was named as CM in February of 2005 after the position had been open for more than a year.

The Second Lawsuit

Lawsuit number 2 was settled on April 20, 2005, and resulted in a Consent Order in which the BOC agreed to show a specific reason for Executive Sessions. For example, Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the County Manager or a county department in order to inform the public of the topic of Executive Sessions. The BOC also agreed to "specifically and accurately identify all matters that are reasonably expected to come before the Board for discussion, consideration, or action".

The Firing of CM #4 and the Debacle of Finding CM #5

CM Burnsed was terminated during an Emergency Called Meeting on August 25, 2006. The State Attorney General's Office became involved when an Open Records Request was refused to Becky Watts--now Editor of Pike County Times--and the document was finally released several months later. [Note from the Editor: Thankfully, Pike County has come a long way from how we used to conduct business.] Sean Townsend (he was our finance person in the BOC office) was named interim County Manager in October 2006. Click here to read more about this time in Pike County.

Pike County Times.com went online in November of 2006 to help the public know what was going with the commissioners as quickly as possible. This was accountability for the commissioners to the public who put them into office as well as an opportunity for me to add comments in blue to my own work rather than continuously writing editorials to newspapers in our area to try to bring about needed change.

The Board of Commissioners (BOC) made the names of the 3 finalists available to the public at the Special Called Meeting at 4 p.m. on April 24, 2007: Mr. Charles D. Akridge; Mr. James R. Bramblett; and Mr. Michael McBrier. The BOC announced James Bramblett as the finalist at the 6:30 p.m. meeting over the objections of many in the audience while stating the James Bramblett would be in an interim CM position until the 14 day notice of the three candidates was complete according to Open Records Law.

At a Special Called Meeting on May 8, 2007, this was the 14th day, Finalist James Bramblett withdrew his application for employment in Pike County due to some discrepancies in his job application. Click here and scroll down to "New County Manager History" between the May 8, 2007 and April 24, 2007 meeting. There was no Interim CM from 5:30 p.m. until 9:00 a.m. the next morning because the BOC had appointed a finalist as interim CM instead of waiting the 14 days after the announcement to announce a finalist.

On May 9, 2007, the BOC recommended Steve Marro from the Pike County Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Development Authority as our Interim County Manager for the next 14 days until a finalist is named. In the BOC Meeting June 13, 2007, Steve Marro was offered a 3 year agreement to work for Pike County as the CM. Click here to read more about this time in Pike County.

In January of 2010, the BOC decided not to renew CM Marro's contract. A memorandum of understanding was signed on February 11, 2010 that allowed Mr. Morro to be on "voluntary administrative leave" with pay through May 31, 2010. County Clerk Teresa Watson was named Interim CM and she began working as such in March. Past CM Tommy Burnsed and Merritt Spier were brought in to help with Pike County's budget at this time as well.

The Sixth County Manager

In a Special Called Meeting on May 3, 2010, Bill Sawyer was offered a package that included the following: a one year salary of $83,400, two weeks vacation, use of the county vehicle for county business, a county provided cell phone, and a standard benefits package that includes medical and life insurance/short term diability/long term disability and sick leave as is provided to county employees. A stipulation was included for Mr. Sawyer to make a reasonable attempt to move to Pike County during his first term as County Manager. (Which he did NOT do.) This annual contract could be renewed each year. Click here to read more about CM Sawyer's time here in Pike County.

CM Bill Sawyer tendered his resignation as County Manager of Pike County in a letter dated April 16, 2012 with an effective date of June 1, 2012. However, CM Sawyer did not continue working with the county during our budget time so, on May 9, 2012, County Attorneys Rob and Tom Morton were appointed into the Interim County Manager position for Pike County. The search began for County Manager number seven.

The Seventh County Manager

Pike County Commissioners chose to extend an offer to Michael Phillips to become the new county manager in Pike County during a Special Called Meeting July 16, 2012. His annual salary would be $77,500 and commissioners have requested that his first day of work be on August 1, 2013. There was a trial period of six months, but no contract was forthcoming at the end of that time with tension showing at many of the meetings between some of the commissioners and CM Phillips. At a Special Called Meeting on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 5:00 p.m., the Pike County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to terminate County Manager Mike Phillips. The beginning of the meeting and the Executive Session lasted for 48 minutes with the final 2 minutes of the meeting consisting of three motions and no further explanation. Nothing has been said to date as to the reason for the termination and budget hearings began immediately similar to those conducted when past CM Sawyer during this same time of year. Click here to read about CM Phillips' time here in Pike County.

Commissioners voted in yesterday's Special Called Meeting to authorize an advertisement that will go to ACCG, the legal organ, and any other applicable organizations to get word out about the need for a County Manager. The deadline for these applications is May 31, 2013.

Closing Thoughts

I searched for information on the average service time for county managers and couldn't find anything online even with ACCG. If you have some information that you would like to share with me, please email a link to me. The resumes that I have reviewed in the past have been varied service times with long service--five years or more--being a rarity instead of the norm. Hopefully the eighth time is the time that we will find someone who will fit here for a long time.

Update 6:30 p.m. My citizen activist side wants to point out that while some are going to be quick to point a finger at our county commissioners, there have been problems with some of those who were hired as county managers and interim county managers. Some did not have the experience that they should have, some problems were a direct result of the commissioners that we had at that time, and then there have been problems with struggles within our county that are outlined throughout the pages of my meeting write ups.

I think that clear parameters for the incoming county manager will go a long way and that we can find someone who is knowledgeable on numbers and is willing to work with our staff and our commissioners to get things done here in Pike County. Update 4.17.13: I am adding a quick revamp of our past two county managers in an effort to help citizens remember from where we have come. Hopefully our next county manager will be a mix of the best qualities of the past two county managers.

If you are interested in finding out more about Pike County's history during these terms of office, click here. I have write ups that go back to 2006 from meetings. I have added individual links throughout the article to make this information more accessible. Any of the latest meetings that are not on the 2013 Commission page yet are still on the Home page. Scroll up from the bottom to find them in date order with the oldest articles at the bottom of the page.


A Quick Revamp of CM Bill Sawyer's Time in Pike County

Fire Fees were eliminated and Fire Chief Danny Henderson was fired in December of 2010 with the salary of the chief being eliminated in January. After the elimination of the Fire Chief, the Pike County Fire Department Ordinance was signed that put the Fire Department with oversight by the county manager. Read about this in the December 29, 2010 meeting.

Pike County Times learned on June 29, 2011 that $5,000 was paid to the City of Meansville approximately 6 weeks earlier without notification to the commissioners and without a current, written mutual aid contract with the City of Meansville. Click here to read about it. I still stand by comments in blue during this article that the county manager runs the day to day operations of county government and the commissioners make policy.

CM Bill Sawyer discussed the possibility of merging Probate and Magistrate Courts together in 2011 that went through on a 3-2 vote.Click here to read from the March 29, 2011 meeting. The would have required a resolution and to be approved by the General Assembly. It was never implemented because it had to go through the legislature and it involved two elected officials and their terms of office.

Our county did go through a time of major belt-tightening to lessen the burden on citizens while bringing up the money in our general fund. CM Sawyer can be credited with this though we did end up a mandamus against the county from the Magistrate Court during this time.

He attempted to eliminate both the Pike County Parks & Recreation Authority and the Pike County Water & Sewer Authority. Discussion about this can be read in the May 11, 2011 meeting. This was a 4-1 decision that came about with a letter that was written prior to the meeting to the county attorney and did not come about because it, too, would have required a resolution to go through the General Assembly through local legislators that never came about because it was past the 2011 session.

There were other issues that came about both good and bad during Mr. Sawyer’s time in office, but obviously, there was a lot of proposed changes and turmoil that went with his time as county manager here. Click here to read the article about his resignation.

A Quick Revamp of CM Michael Phillips' Time in Pike County

CM Mike Phillips prepared a starting point for animal control in Pike County. There was some frustration from commissioners when this didn’t roll as quickly for discussion as some would have liked. It was a long and tedious process over many months of meetings. His proposed animal control plan starting point is here.

There were a lot of questions from commissioners with finances that had to be answered at later meetings or with the help of finance officer Kay Landers. This was not what commissioners were used to with past CM Sawyer being very knowledgeable about numbers. Commissioners sometimes had to ask for the same information in more than one meeting and showed frustration with this too.

CM Phillips helped to gather information from departments in the Courthouse to ensure that they received needed furniture and equipment at the end of the SPLOST project. CM Phillips garnered good will around the county by attending meetings around the county including city meetings as well as with authorities. He was also good with public relations for the county, and totally different from CM Sawyer with his way of handling county affairs. However, there is good and bad with that. There was some tension about the budget and gathering of information for commissioners at the April 10, 2013 meeting which I am working on now and current budget hearings before commissioners began this week. CM Phillips was only here for 9 months.

There are some glaring differences between the two prior county managers. Some good and some bad for each one. Some of the problems may have been as a direct result of the differences between the two county managers. No one has said in a meeting why CM Phillips was terminated and I am not going to speculate on here. I do wish him and his family well.




[Note from the Editor: If you appreciate being able to read information from county meetings for free on Pike County Times, please make a donation to Pike County Times through the PayPal link at the bottom of the page or by check to Pike County Times at PO Box 843, Zebulon so I can justify the amount of time that I am spending away from family. It may not seem like much but sitting in a meeting and then typing it up or doing research like this, but it takes a lot more time than you might imagine! Thanks for reading Pike County's only FREE newspaper.]

4.16.13
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