Commissioners, search committee outline process to hire manager

By Lisa Majors-Duff

The person they are looking for will need to communicate well with county commissioners, county residents and county employees, committee members agreed. He or she will also need experience with making and managing a $30 million budget and a similarly priced capital improvement project.

Search committee members - Ron Watson of the Department of Transportation, Rick Collings of Western Carolina University, Cecil Groves of Southwestern Community College, Cathy Arrington of CMA Market Source in Sylva, county finance officer Darlene Fox, Sylva Town Board member Maurice Moody and Don Putman of Glenville, who is self-employed - met with county commissioners, Jenne and Vickey Wade of WCU's Mountain Resource Center Jan. 17 to begin the process of looking for Jackson County's next manager.

The three-hour session allowed both committee members and commissioners to discuss issues facing Jackson County and the type person needed to address those issues. They also worked out a tentative schedule, which calls for the job description and advertisement to be written in time for an April 2 application deadline. Committee members will then be asked to recommend three candidates to the commissioners, who could offer the position to someone by May 15.

This tentative schedule, which Jenne called "tight," would allow the board to hire a professional county manager by July 1, the date indicated in the December resolution changing the structure of county government. The resolution was adopted following a 3-2 vote of the county board (Chairman Jay Denton, who also serves as the current county manager, and Commissioner Franz Whitmire voted "no") and a 62 percent approval rating for the change from county voters in November.

"Growth is an obvious one and all the things that go along with it," said Collings in response to Jenne's call for issues facing Jackson County. This was immediately followed by zoning, solid waste, water quality and transportation. These were followed by economic diversity, schools, telecommunications and regional cooperation.

"We also need to look at meeting the needs of a fast growing elderly population," Commissioner Conrad Burrell said. In the same vein, Groves said the county should consider the wellness and recreation needs of young and old alike.

"We need to think about the increase in property values in relation to salaries," Denton said. If property values continue to increase, but salaries do not keep up, more longtime residents are going to find it difficult to hold on to their homes and farms, he said. "Also, affordable, quality housing is going to be hard to come by."

More people living in Jackson County means more crime prevention will be necessary, Burrell said. "Plus, we need to keep a healthy tax base."

With these issues in mind, commissioners and committee members turned their attention to the qualifications necessary in the next county manager. In addition to a bachelor's degree and at least five years of experience, the new manager should be able to communicate and listen effectively, should possess managerial skills and should understand fiscal management. The person should have experience with economic development, know how to modernize the county's technology and understand the rural nature of Jackson County.

The salary range being considered for the position is between $65,000 and $80,000. Denton currently earns $60,666.

Jenne agreed to undertake the next step in the search process by drafting a job description to be considered by the commissioners.

Back to Archive: 01/25/01.