Habersham County is about to welcome its new interim county manager. Commission vice-chair Bruce Harkness says Alicia Vaughn today accepted the job. Vaughn is the former manager of Catoosa County in northwest Georgia.
“She is fully credentialed and her resume is pretty amazing,” Harkness says.
According to her resume, Vaughn has over 14 years of government management experience. In addition to the year-and-a-half she served at the helm of Catoosa County (she resigned in April), Vaughn served as Whitfield County’s finance director for six years and as the city of Dalton’s assistant finance director from 2007 to 2012. She holds a business degree in accounting from the University of Georgia.
After spending weeks searching for the right candidate, the Habersham County Commission during a called meeting Thursday night voted 3-1 to offer Vaughn the job. Commissioner Jimmy Tench cast the lone dissenting vote.
The search for a manager began after Phil Sutton, who has held the job for nearly eight years, announced his resignation in May. Vaughn comes from a county with a slightly larger population than Habersham’s, and that working knowledge should serve her well. Sutton’s last day on the job is July 16, leaving Vaughn with just one week to settle in before taking over the reins.
Commissioner Harkness says Vaughn was highly recommended by the Georgia Municipal Association.
“I know I can speak for all the county commissioners that we have been taking each applicant seriously,” Harkness said after Thursday’s meeting. “It has taken many, many meetings and hours of interviewing these applicants, and we are doing our best to try to fill these positions for the best of our county and taxpayers.”
Noting that their hiring decisions will affect the county for many years to come, commissioners are being cautious. Instead of hiring a full-time county manager outright, they opted for an interim manager. This arrangement allows them to fill the immediate vacancy left by Sutton’s departure, as well as evaluate the interim’s work performance.
“If we find her work to be satisfactory, then she may be offered a permanent position after six months, but for now, it’s a six-month interim contract,” Harkness says.
Commissioners are still hammering out the details of the agreement. They expect to have more details available for the public by their next meeting.
During Thursday’s called meeting, commissioners tabled a decision on hiring a new county clerk after their most recent applicant failed to show for an interview. The job opened up after Lindsay Underwood resigned in May.
At their June 28 meeting, the commission voted 3-1, with Tench in opposition, to offer the clerk position to Lisa Ritchie. She previously held the job from 2008 to 2012. Ritchie, who now serves as commission clerk in Hall County, declined the commission’s offer. Several other people have applied, and commissioners are reviewing those applications. In the meantime, Brandalin Carnes, who worked with Underwood, is serving as acting county clerk.
Harkness says commissioners decided to wait on hiring a new clerk until the interim manager’s job was filled.
This article has been updated.
A recording of Thursday night’s meeting is available on the county’s website here.
