Madison County is currently governed by a Board of Commissioners, with a Chairman who acts as Chief Executive and who is responsible for day-to-day operations of departments. This was once common in Georgia, but now more than 120 of Georgia’s counties have decided to hire a professional County Manager/Administrator to handle the departmental personnel, planning, budgeting and other administrative functions of county government. Why? Because the demands of governance have increased and require professional expertise and abilities beyond what most commissioners can provide. Our own Chairman lamented at a recent county meeting that he often feels “like a squirrel on a yellow line” when trying to deal with the complexities and demands of county operations.
Several of our commissioners have a full time job and then are also responsible for different aspects of our county administration. It is time for a change in our governance that allows our commissioners the time to take on better consideration of policy matters, while leaving day-to-day operations to a professional manager.
If you elect me to the commission, I will push for a vote of the commissioners to quickly call for public discussion of the need for a professional county manager/administrator, why doing such will improve delivery of services and efficiencies, and especially why hiring a county manager will be a good investment of county resources. If the people of Madison County concur, then we should begin a wide search for quality professional management who have good credentials and experience, especially in situations like our county where growth is imminent.