Interim county manager not looking to work 'full-time all the time'

Jan. 22—Interim Glynn County Manager Mike Stewart has been publicly offered to have the interim tag removed from his job title, but he has no intention of accepting.

Stewart has been on the job as interim county manager about two months and plans to leave this summer. He will depart after working several weeks with his replacement.

The goal is to hire a county manager who will serve the county for years to come.

Stewart has been a hired gun, of sorts, for nearly seven years. He has worked as interim manger for cities and counties across the state, helping municipalities make the transition to a new manager.

"I don't want to work full-time all the time," he said.

Stewart said he has been hired in some municipalities where there was a lot more work to do than just find a new manager. In those instances, he faced financial issues that had to be resolved.

One municipality that contracted him saw nearly every department head quit following the election of new city officials.

"It was a mess," he said. "We had to put the brakes on all spending."

Financial issues are not a problem in Glynn County, he said.

"Financially, it's in excellent shape," he said. "It's the best staff I've worked with. It's a good atmosphere."

It's also a challenging job, with high expectations from the public. There are currently 80 ongoing county projects, which Stewart said is a manageable number.

But a project manager — a position being considered by county commissioners — would help ensure ongoing projects are completed in a timely manner, he said.

"Commissioners have an aggressive agenda," he said.

One of the immediate goals is to find a new county manager, a job Stewart said is very attractive.

When Stewart served as Liberty County manager, he said he looked at the Glynn County job "with envy."

Attractive or not, he said he has no intention of staying in the position any longer than it takes to bring in a full-time county manager and help the new hire ease into the job.

He said it is important the new county manager have the support of all seven commissioners.

"I would not come here without a unanimous vote," he said. "Everybody's apprehensive about the new guy coming in."

Stewart will be busy the next several months developing the county's annual budget, which he said will be completed by June.

"I knew it was going to be a challenge, but we have a quality team here," he said.

As for plans after completing his mission here, Stewart said he intends to take a break after serving in what is proving to be a very demanding job.

"I'm not going to do anything for a while," he said. "I knew it would be a challenge."