Chairman Danny Yearwood on Tuesday night agreed to allow the Barrow County Board of Commissioners to begin looking for a top administrator to help him run the day-to-day operations of the county government.
The position of “chief of operations” has been vacant since Keith Lee’s resignation in early February, but Yearwood has resisted board members’ private inquiries about hiring anyone, saying it would be a waste of money because he didn’t need the help.
The issue became public last week after four commissioners, led by Ben Hendrix, asked for the issue to be put on the board’s meeting agenda.
Hendrix said that with the resignations of the county’s top administrators and the departure of other managers, that left no less than 10 vacancies in senior staff positions.
He said he doesn’t want to hire anyone “to circumvent his authority or to run the county for him or this board,” but he thinks Yearwood needs assistance.
YEARWOOD
Top administrator, CFO to be hired
Other commissioners may have been poised for a full public confrontation, but Yearwood defused some of the tension by quickly saying he would accept some help. However, exactly what that position and title would be is not clear.
Yearwood did make it clear that the new administrator would “assist” him in running the county, not take over. Saying he would like to set up a committee to hire someone to whom he could assign projects, Yearwood added: “I don’t ever want anyone to say that we’re an ‘administrative government.’ Our charter plainly states Barrow County has a chairman and he is the CEO of the county.”
For the full story on this and other BOC matters, see the July 29 issue of the Barrow Journal
Yearwood did make it clear that the new administrator would “assist” him in running the county, not take over. Saying he would like to set up a committee to hire someone to whom he could assign projects, Yearwood added: “I don’t ever want anyone to say that we’re an ‘administrative government.’ Our charter plainly states Barrow County has a chairman and he is the CEO of the county.”
For the full story on this and other BOC matters, see the July 29 issue of the Barrow Journal
Look at the counties around that have mangement governments and see if they are in the same trouble Barrow County is in - Jackson County is one to study. While that county has it's problems, I'm sure, they seem to have money in their cofers and the top administrators have not either quit or been forced out of their jobs.
Barrow County is in trouble and it's time to look at someone that can run the government professionally - not someone to be put in charge of Mr. Yearwood's special projects. He's got his good friend Frank Nocerra in charge of one project, the airport, that was a joke in itself and now he says he doesn't want anyone to usurp his position as commission chairman.
I don't see anyone backing him up on the "wonderful and level headed job" he is doing.
While I appreciate the Chairman and Commissioners trying to “plug the dike” during this crisis, the perception is that we have hit rock bottom and started to dig.
We need to go further than just hiring a new county administrator or project manager. Now is the perfect opportunity to take whatever steps necessary to go to a Commission/Manager form of government. Barrow County needs a true professional County Manager. This would free the Chairman and Commission to implement the people’s vision of Barrow County by setting overall policy rather than trying to run day-to-day operations, and for the most part, would remove them from personnel issues. Even though righting the ship will be a long painful process, the current perception of our county would be improved immediately which would allow us to move forward. In the end, this commission could be remembered for its courage and foresight.
Even though I am a “native son”, we definitely need to look outside the county. We do not need any current or former county elected officials, employees, long-term residents or persons with substantial financial ties to any segment of our economy. We need a fresh set of eyes and ears. If asked, I would certainly donate any time necessary to help accomplish this change and hire the best person.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Ernie Graham
Any commissioners that are reading, please take this in consideration. Thanks Ernie for your response.