White County Commissioners have named an interim county manager. Following an executive session on Monday, 59-year-old Billy Pittard was unanimously approved for the position.
Pittard was, until recently, the operations manager for Barrow County. He previously served as full-time chair of the Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners.
White County Commission Chairman Travis Turner says this gives him a unique insight into the job.
“He understands why we make decisions, the elected body that we do, and having a unique perspective to fulfill those duties and implement those into the county budget, county staff, and dealing with the constitutional officers,” said Turner.
Pittard’s appointment follows the firing of county manager Mike Renshaw back on April 11th following reports that Renshaw had applied for and been named town manager in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Pittard told the commissioners that he and his wife had done a lot of research on the county and staff that he might be working with before applying for the position.
“I look forward to making your lives easier,” he told the commissioners.
“It’s always been mine and my wife’s goal to end up in North Georgia,” Pittard told reporters after it was announced he’d been hired. “We like it up here. Some people like the beach; I like the mountains. I like the community, I like the folks. It’s still small enough that you know everybody in the community, so even in the absence of this opportunity here, we had aspirations of finding somewhere up in this area.”
Pittard will be paid $12,000 a month as interim manager and begins his employment immediately.
Commissioner Edwin Nix said, “Over the next few months, you’re going to see how talented Billy is.”
