Multiple citizens lined up during the public agenda portion of the city council meeting to voice their concerns over the search for a new city manager. Mayor Skip Henderson told Council in an earlier meeting he wanted to put a pause on the search after none of the five finalists for the city manager’s position rose to the top.
Val McGowan asked the council “we spent money on a group, why are we not moving forward?” McGowan was referring to the Mercer Group, an Atlanta based executive search firm specializing in government positions. The Mercer Group presented the mayor with five finalists.
Theresa El-Amin told councilors the practice of hiring from within makes it crazy to pay money to a search firm. “I wonder if the deputy city managers were on that list,” she said. Deputy city managers Lisa Goodwin and Pam Hodge have taken on the responsibilities of the city manager since Council fired Isaiah Hugley back in May of this year.
Steve Kelly, a combat veteran who announced his bid for mayor in 2026 said there hasn’t been any transparency or accountability for money already spent. “Not a single name has been released, that is not transparency,” Kelly said. The public sees the pause as “political” he said calling on the mayor to release the names of the five finalists.
Mayor Henderson responded, “I don’t know if we want the reputation that we’re going to broadcast who applies.” Henderson said he feels no political pressure in the search for a city manager “in six months I’m out of here”.
