Pierce County Commissioners and County Manager Candidate Joey Cason were unable to agree on a contract and the county has rescinded its finalist designation.
Interim County Manager Chuck Scragg made the announcement early Thursday afternoon, Feb. 16. The commission will now pursue other candidates to fill the vacancy.
The board met in closed session conducting interviews last Monday, Feb. 13, before returning to open session to name Cason as the finalist.
Since he was the sole finalist, commissioners had anticipated him officially taking the manager’s job as early as Feb. 27.
Negotiations on an employment contract had been underway since last Monday.
“Mr. Cason has a great deal of experience and a depth of knowledge that would have been beneficial to Pierce County. We had offered him a commensurate salary for the position with accompanying standard county employee benefits package. However, in our negotiations, we just could not come to a “meeting of the minds” concerning these issues, and both parties, have agreed to end negotiations” said current Interim County Manager Chuck Scragg.
The search for a new manager will take up where it left off, but no action had been taken as of press time this week.A total of nine candidates applied for the position. Commissioners, by law, can name up to three finalists for the position.
“There are other outstanding candidates that we plan to pursue immediately” said County Chairman, Neal Bennett. “Hopefully, we will have an announcement concerning our progress very soon.” he added.
Cason currently resides in Brunswick where he runs his own company, Parable Financial Network, which specializes in individual and business financial planning.
He has previously served as county manager in White County in the northeast Georgia Mountains and was also formerly the executive director of the Camden County Public Service Authority.
The new manager will replace former County Manager Jason Rubenbauer who resigned in November, 2022. Rubenbauer left to take a job as director of the Waycross-Ware County Development Authority.
