Bass

THOMASVILLE — The search for a new Thomasville city manager is officially underway.

City council voted unanimously to hire the Tallahassee, Florida, firm of S. Renée Narlock & Associates to conduct the search.

Keith Bass, interim city utilities general superintendent, and Kha McDonald, interim city manager, looked at two other proposals — one from an Atlanta company and another from the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Proposals were rated.

Bass and McDonald agreed the Tallahassee firm was “the clear winner,” Bass said, adding that the company’s energy and approach to the project were appealing.

The search, at a cost of about $22,000, is expected to begin within days.

An individual from S. Renée Narlock & Associates will meet council members individually to develop a profile. 

“She (Narlock) will put a profile together of what they’re looking for and like,” Bass said.

Bass hopes the council will seek a good communicator, someone who will be out in the community “telling the city story.”

“The City of Thomasville has a very positive story,” he said.

Experience in economic development and resulting job development are important in a city manager, Bass said. A good manager, but not a micro-manager, is needed, he added.

He also would desire a city manager with experience in a city that has an electric utility. The electric utility is important to this community’s economic stability, Bass said.

Bass said he would prefer a manager from a city with a population about the size of Valdosta’s. Thomasville has a complexity of issues unlike most cities of equal size, Bass said, and neither do such cities offer what Thomasville has.

Bass expects the city manager search to be nationwide. Qualified city employees who apply will be considered.

“This is optimistically a 90-day process,” Bass said.

A permanent utilities general superintendent is expected to be hired after a new city manager is in place.

Steve Sykes, who had been the longtime city manager/utilities general superintendent, resigned effective Dec. 31, 2017.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820