Former Dougherty County Administrator Mike McCoy turned down for his former job

ALBANY – A former Dougherty County administrator’s application for the job from which he was fired in a 4-3 vote last year was met with a polite response suggesting that while he is a “well-qualified” candidate he likely would not be a good fit for this particular position.

The Dougherty County Commission voted on May 22, 2023, to terminate former Administrator Michael McCoy with a majority made up of Commissioners Victor Edwards, Gloria Gaines and Clinton Johnson and Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard.

However, after there were questions about the legality of that vote, as the issue was not on the commission agenda for that day, McCoy was reinstated on a subsequent vote two weeks later, with another vote taken immediately to again terminate his contract. That motion was approved by the same four in December 2023 and extended through December 2024.

A third vote was taken on June 27, 2023, at the conclusion of a personnel hearing requested by McCoy, with that vote confirming the earlier votes with the same 4-3 majority. Commissioners Russell Gray, Anthony Jones and Ed Newsome were in the minority in all of the votes taken to terminate McCoy.

The former administrator applied for his old position. Since his firing he has filed a lawsuit in Dougherty County Superior Court seeking reinstatement, $5 million in damages and other unspecified damages.

In a letter written in response to McCoy's application from Colin Baenziger & Associates, the firm selected to conduct the search, that was emailed to recipients that included McCoy, the company said that its goal is to have each candidate selected for a job earn a unanimous vote.

“It would be very unlikely that such support would be forthcoming when the composition of the body is the same as the body that previously terminated the candidate’s employment,” the letter said. “While you seem to be a well-qualified candidate, our company has never recommended a candidate to a city or county that previously terminated their employment.”

The second reason given in the letter is that since candidates are required to submit an extensive amount of information during the process, and that effort would likely be a waste of time.

“When we feel the likelihood of a candidate being hired is unlikely, we do not feel it is fair to the individual to put them through the process,” the letter said. “It is also not a good use of our time and resources to vet the candidate.

"We would, however, like to consider you for any other search that we have that you are interested in. As I said, we do feel you are a well-qualified candidate."

McCoy’s attorney in the case, Maurice King, said in response to the letter that McCoy is the victim of “a textbook example of retaliation.”

“Gloria Gaines, the current District 5 commissioner for Dougherty County, teamed up with Chairman Lorenzo Heard and (Commissioners) Victor Edwards and Clinton Johnson to unlawfully terminate the employment of Mr. McCoy, and now they are retaliating against Mr. McCoy.

“The voters of District 5 have the opportunity to voice their displeasure with Gaines, Heard, Edwards and Johnson by voting to elect Thomia Thomas, the District 5 challenger to Gaines.”

Thomas, a political newcomer, is challenging Gaines in the May 21 Democratic primary election for the district. The winner in the contest faces no Republican opposition in the fall and will be sworn in as the District 5 seat in January 2025.

The four commissioners who made up the majority in the votes for McCoy’s termination, who are named individually in the lawsuit, filed a countersuit against McCoy on March 8, seeking to nullify McCoy’s 2024 contract.

Among their claims made in that 51-page document, the four commissioners say they are protected by sovereign immunity, which in some cases can protect elected officials from legal action.

In the countersuit, the four commissioners also denied allegations made by McCoy, and assert that his claims are barred because they were not filed within the required time period, that some claims are barred due to their already being subject to a pending action and that the relief sought is not authorized by law.

The Herald left a message on Monday for Gaines seeking comment, but she had not responded to the newspaper by its deadline.