After a lively meeting Thursday, Hall County commissioners are cautiously moving forward as they form relationships and head to what could be more contentious meetings next week.
"I continue to be utterly amazed at the unprofessional method by which this was handled," Commissioner Billy Powell said Friday morning. "It's a travesty for this county to lose the resources we had. There was an abundance of knowledge that just went out the window."
Thursday night, commissioners named Jock Connell, former Gwinnett County administrator, to replace Charley Nix as county administrator and Atlanta law firm Holland and Knight to replace Bill Blalock as county attorney. The moves were passed in 3-2 votes, with Commissioners Ashley Bell, Craig Lutz and Scott Gibbs in favor and Chairman Tom Oliver and Commissioner Billy Powell in opposition.
News about the appointments broke a day earlier than intended on Wednesday afternoon, leaving Oliver and Powell in shock as Bell and new commissioners Lutz and Gibbs called for resignations from Nix, Blalock, Assistant County Administrator Phil Sutton and Finance Director Michaela Thompson.
On Friday morning, Connell appointed Lisa Johnsa, a former assistant county administrator and finance director in Gwinnett County, as interim finance director for Hall.
"Mr. Connell has the authority to make all personnel decisions, and obviously he's familiar with Ms. Johnsa, who has a lot of expertise in financial operations with a $1 billion budget," Bell said.
"She's extremely well-qualified, especially as a former assistant county administrator, and her credentials speak for themselves. It's nothing personal, but we're putting the best qualified people in place to best lead this county."
Sutton's position will remain unfilled.
"As we talk about shrinking the size of government, any way we can get to the point where we can end furloughs for public safety and other employees is good," Bell said. "We're cutting at the top, and with Jock Connell's and Lisa Johnsa's expertise, we don't need an assistant county manager at this time. This will help us get to the point where we can help the rest of our employees."
The county plans to contract with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia for assistance in the search for a new county administrator. The county attorney position will be put out to bid.
"As far as Ms. Johnsa, I have no idea who she is or what her capabilities are," Powell said Friday.
"I've never met the lady and wish I had a chance to at least see what her qualifications are or even if her personality is a fit for the county."
Still reeling from Thursday's meeting, Oliver and Powell said they are interested to see what happens next week.
"I'm a little guarded. We just removed one of the top financial people in the state and removed a guy with staggering amounts of knowledge about the county," Oliver said. "We're going forward into a time when revenue could be down and property value could be down, and I'm just wondering what our game plan should be."
By paying severance to old administrators and salaries to new interim administrators, Oliver said he would like to see a cost analysis.
Nix's severance package is $69,000 for six months of salary, $18,000 for six months of benefits and $8,400 accrued vacation. Thompson's is $24,000 for three months of salary, $7,000 in benefits and $18,000 in vacation. Sutton's is $67,000 for six months severance, $18,000 in benefits and $18,000 in vacation.
"We're basically paying double salaries right now," he said. "And last night we shut down one park and then added another dimension to it. Do we know what the liabilities and cost factors are? I think we have an obligation to offer protection to the county, and I hope we haven't overstepped our bounds."