Jefferson County looking to hire assistant administrator
The Jefferson County Commission voted in their March meeting to hire an assistant county administrator to help manage grants, apply for new funding and assist with ongoing and new projects.
“We have a bunch of things, like needing to review and update our code of ordinances and the personnel policy, whole list of things that need to be done for the efficient operation of the county and I told them (the commissioners) that I just don’t have the time to do,” Coalson said. “We’ve added a large number of grants. There’s the leisure center project. We’re finishing the work at Ogeechee Park. We’re working on an applying for a health department grant. We’ve got this $2.2 million recreation department grant we’re working on. There are several new grants we want to apply for. Those take a huge amount of time.”
Coalson told the commissioners during the March 19 meeting that his to-do list has grown extensively in the last couple of years and now include significantly complicated and time-consuming projects that need to be done for the betterment and efficiency of the county.
Some of these projects include updating the county’s entire code of ordinances, which he believes might not have been looked at as a whole in as long as 15 years.
“There are a lot of model type ordinances that need to be tailored to Jefferson County,” Coalson said. “One of those is our land development code. These are complicated tasks that will involve taking these to the attorney and back to the board for approval. There is a lot of coordinating that needs to be done.”
The county’s road inventory, which should lists which road ways belong to the county and which are privately owned, need updating. Much of this information is currently primarily known by the county road superintendent, but should also be in writing.
“We have talked for years about updating our website and social media sites and creating a calendar and do more marketing for our recreation programs,” Coalson said. “We need to be more proactive with these. I simply don’t have the time to get to these things.”
Coalson added that he will soon be working on the 2025 budget and there are several grants for which the commission has expressed interest in applying.
“I think the real issue is we’ve added a lot of projects to our to-do list. We’ve been aggressive about going after these projects and getting them, but that’s caused us to be very, very busy,” Coalson said.
Commissioner Johnny Davis said that he understands that Coalson can some days run into a single incident that can take up to five hours of his time to resolve.
“And there are other things that need to get done,” J. Davis said. “There are other grants and funds available to us but we have no one to work on them.”
He then moved that the county hire an assistant to aid Coalson in these duties. The motion passed unanimously.
“Before we move forward we want to commend you on the job you are doing,” said Commission Chair Mitchell McGraw. “You’ve lined up a lot of things that we’ve asked for and we want to finish them and help you finish them. We commend you on answering the call on everything we’ve asked you to do.”
“We’re not trying to take your job away from you, but trying to give you some help,” Johnny Davis told Coalson. “There are some counties a lot smaller than we are who have assistant administrators who really help them out.”
The county has since posted the position, which is expected to pay between $65,000 and $72,000 a year.
The key responsibilities will include collaborating with the county administrator and other team members to perform a variety of duties related to organizing, coordinating and implementing policies, projects and other initiatives.
Qualification requirements include a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Business Administration, or a related field or equivalent experience.
Candidates should also possess strong analytical, communication and financial/budgeting skills and proficiency in problem resolution.
Applications may be obtained from the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Office and/or online at www.jeffersoncountyga.gov
Applications and resumes should be submitted to Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, Attn: Bonnie Wells, County Clerk, POBox 658, 217 East Broad Street, Louisville, GA 30434 or by email at bwells@jeffersoncountyga.gov
Any questions related to the position should be directed to Coalson at 478-625-3332.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Jefferson County looking to hire assistant administrator
