County commissioners voted 5-0 earlier this week to hire Paul Van Haute as its new interim county manager.
Van Haute previously worked as the county manager in nextdoor Putnam County before retiring at the end of May.
The average tenure of a city or county manager is seven years, according to the International City/County Management Association. The fact that Van Haute lasted 16 years in Putnam County and left on his own accord is notable.
District 3 Commissioner Sammy Hall has served as interim county manager since Carlos Tobar was fired abruptly in late April.
“It’s my expectation that I won’t be in this position for more than a month,” Hall said at the time. “Our next step is finding ‘a more permanent interim manager.”
In the end, Hall was on the job for six weeks.
Not in recent memory has the heat been turned up this high on the county commission. Facebook comments haven’t been kind in the last few weeks, especially after commissioners voted to take out a $5 million line of credit during its regular meeting last week. The interest on any money withdrawn from the account is 5.25 percent.
Also, during last week’s meeting, Hall noted that the GBI’s investigation into Tobar and the county’s finances is expected to wrap up at some point in the next few weeks.
In March of last year, Tobar purchased a 72-acre property in rural Hancock County for $300,000, according to records.