In a departure from tradition, the county manager, clerk, and attorney were absent from the agenda for annual appointments at the Habersham County Commission meeting in January.
Asked about the change, County Manager Alicia Vaughn tells Now Habersham that “Per our ordinances, these appointments are not required annually.” She adds, “In this instance, the practice or ‘tradition’ did not follow our ordinance.”
‘Contrary to contracts and code,’ attorney says
According to the ordinance provided by Habersham County Clerk Brandalin Carnes, “The board is hereby authorized to employ a clerk…” It also states, “The county manager shall serve at the pleasure of the board for an indefinite term as an at-will employee and may be terminated by majority vote of the board.”
County Attorney Donnie Hunt says, “A vote in January to ‘reappoint’ was contrary to the employment contracts and our code.”
Hunt goes on to explain that, “The county manager and the county clerk are under contracts with the Board of Commissioners. As a result, there is an annual review process set forth in the contract, and the contract automatically extends unless there is a vote to terminate it, which may be different than a vote to reappoint.”
Unnecessary, but ‘not opposed’
In reference to his own appointment, Hunt says, “The county attorney is purely ‘at-will.’ The county attorney can be terminated at any time, and that is as it should be.”
According to Hunt, the county attorney position does not require bidding. It is a professional contract and not subject to the one-year limitation on contract length.
“Again, our code requires an affirmative vote to terminate as opposed to a failed re-appointment. Originally, our office had a four-year contract with the county, which is now a month-to-month contract.”
Hunt states that though the re-appointment process is unnecessary, his firm is not opposed to it.
“The annual re-appointment process is unnecessary with regard to the county attorney position, but if the commissioners want to continue that tradition, we are not opposed.”
