The second installment of the search for the next City Manager in Waycross took another step this week with executive sessions by the Waycross City Commission.
Commissioners had called meetings at 8 a.m. Tuesday, November 8 and today (Wednesday, November 9). After the meetings were called to order, they were quickly adjorned to executive sessions for the purpose of interviewing candidates for the position that has been vacant since Tonya Parrish resigned in December.
The interviews follow the close of the application process October 4. A total of 23 candidates applied for the postion, Human Resources Director Marissa Hendrix said when applications closed.
The commission began seeking candidates in January after Parrish’s departure to become City Manager in Flowery Branch, Ga. That version of the search drew 47 candidates.
Just as this week, city officials used two called meetings early in May for executive sessions to conduct in-person interviews of selected candidates from the original pool. That group of interviews led to three finalists being named June 3.
Commissioners voted to reopen the application process when they failed to reach a consensus on any of that trio — Joey Cason, Patrick Simmons and Chandler Williamson.
A motion on June 21 to hire Cason was voted down 3-2, and neither of the other finalists were offered in a following motion at that time. The issue remained there until the five commissioners unanimously voted July 19 to reopen the search.
None of the finalists from the original group said they are candidates. Simmons, a Waycross native and current Executive Director of the Waycross Convention and Visitors Bureau, initially indicated he would remain a candidate, but has since said he’s no longer involved with the search.
Community Improvement Director Marc Hawkins is serving as Interim City Manager. Hawkins replaced Fire Chief David Eddins on June 15. Eddins replaced Parrish when she officially departed the city December 15.
Hawkins can remain in the interim role until December 15. If no successor for Parrish, who was on the job about 34 months, has been hired by then, Hawkins would have to be replaced.
The term of an interim manager is limited to six months during any one search. That means a third person would need to be named should no replacement for Parrish be hired by December 15.
Parrish, then Tonya Miller, was hired in Waycross with the commission’s approval of a resolution on February 20, 2019. The Savannah native had been Director of Administrative Services and Chief Financial Officer for the Glynn County Board of Commissioners before taking the position in Waycross.
Her hiring ended a six-month search by the city following the commission’s dismissal of Raphel Maddox for “inappropriate conduct in the workplace.” She was the only finalist from group of 21 candidates.
