Fire chief search bogged down

Posted by
Susan Norman
in Top Stories & Breaking News, Winder Archives
Thursday, May 20. 2010
Comments (3)
The power struggle on the Barrow County Board of Commissioners appears to be sabotaging the five-month-old search for the county’s next chief of emergency services.

Two of the six candidates interviewed in late April have withdrawn their applications in the past couple of weeks after becoming soured on the process.

The first was a Newton County deputy chief, who was the top pick of the selection committee comprised not only of local officials, but also of two fire chiefs in the region who volunteered to help Barrow County choose the best candidate.

The second was interim chief John Skinner, who has been running Barrow County Emergency Services for seven months since Chief Mark Melvin quit over staffing and safety issues.

Also caught in the crossfire is Human Resources Director Norma Jean Brown, who didn’t serve on the selection committee, but at the request of the selection committee’s chairman, Billy Parks, extended O’Brien an offer around April 27 or 28 that was contingent on several things, including an interview by the county chairman.

Parks said Yearwood initially told him he didn’t need to meet with the candidate and would just go along with the committee’s selection.

But a week or so after the offer was extended – and after the county’s firefighters learned an outside candidate had been offered the job – Yearwood changed course, complaining that the offer had been premature and that Brown had violated policy by extending it before he had had an opportunity to meet the candidate.

“It’s become a big deal,” Parks said, acknowledging that Brown’s job may be on the line. “We won’t know until probably the next meeting or so,” he said.

Parks acknowledged that he had asked Brown to make the call to O’Brien and was present during her conversation with the candidate.

He stressed that it was a “contingent” offer based on the drug screen, physical exam and future meeting with Yearwood.

Brown declined a request for an interview, but did say she had followed the same hiring process she has used for six years when hiring directors.

For more on this story, see the May 19 edition of the Barrow Journal.
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#1 anonymous1 on 05/20/10 at 07:16 AM [Reply]
Can this group of elected officials and department heads be more incompetent? We are talking a basic function of hiring an employee to work for the county....AND they can not get the process right!

We need elected and department head leadership with recent corporate experience. These people get the necessary training and mentoring to understand the importance of communication, process, and flawless implementation. Once again Barrow County government is an embarrassment and demonstrates the lack of skills necessary to run a $30mm enterprise.

As for the candidates that withdrew....I would say both men are wise and can easily see the dismal future of working with a group that continues to find ways to publicly embarrass themselves, employees, and the county.
#2 Anonymous on 05/20/10 at 09:11 AM [Reply]
Norma Jean - they have been trying to get rid of her for awhile now. Looks like they set her up good this time. I neither support or not support her; I'm neutral on the issue.

Voters please VOTE in July and please DO YOUR HOMEWORK first. Don't vote for someone just because they are the incumbent and been in office for awhile. By the same token DON'T VOTE for someone just because they are the challenger.
#3 concerned on 05/21/10 at 09:27 AM [Reply]
Hopefully, labor laws were not broken. Barrow can't afford more lawsuits.
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