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By Editor Becky Watts
Bill Sawyer has tendered his resignation as County Manager of Pike County.
In a letter to County Commission Chairman Doug Mangham dated April 16, 2012 but delivered yesterday, County Manager Bill Sawyer advised he was resigning as County Manager. His resignation will be effective June 1, 2012.
He praised efforts of the past two years during his tenure as county manager and praised department heads as “excellent and professional” and staff as “conscientious and dependable” in his resignation letter.
He went on to say, “Through the collective efforts of us all, we are now in a better financial situation with operational funds and the ability to ensure taxes are kept in line.” He also said that Pike County received the first clean audit in years and that the county is moving forward.
“Pike County is a wonderful place with good people, and I was lucky to have been here,” he said in his letter.
[Note from the Editor added 4.19.12: There are many thoughts swirling through my head this morning as I review this article. Commissioners will have to weigh the pros and cons of keeping our current county manager in place through the hiring process for a new county manager or decide whether someone else will step in as the interim county manager at the end of the search.
I don't know all of the options yet and a public vote will have to be taken, but there are some definite pros and cons to having an outgoing county manager in place as a new county manager is chosen. Hiring a county manager is a long process that Pike and other counties with the county manager form of government know well, and I expect commissioners to discuss how things will be handled in the upcoming meeting.
Commissioners are also going to have to make some decisions about how things will be handled from here on out about many items that were in the works prior to CM Sawyer's resignation. The renovations on the Courthouse is just one topic that comes to mind. I expect that Commissioners will address many questions at the next meeting on Tuesday, April 24th at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.]