A seat on the Fort Oglethorpe planning and zoning department is open – again.
Mike Fowler, whom the City Council unanimously voted to hire Feb. 13 as the building inspector, answered the phone Friday at his old job with Gordon County. Asked why he didn’t come to work for Fort Oglethorpe, Fowler said, “I’d rather not comment.”
Multiple sources within the small city government, who asked for anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to the media, said Fowler called last week to say he was turning down the job after previously accepting it. One city employee said city administrators had not explained why Fowler didn’t show up to work.
City Manager Jennifer Payne-Simpkins, who was hired at the same council meeting as Fowler, did not return multiple calls seeking comment. Neither did Mayor Earl Gray or four of the five council members.
Mark Lindsay, who had worked for the city for 14 years before a November 2010 arrest, said he interviewed for the job, only to learn the council had already offered the post to Fowler.