The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners will begin interviewing candidates for its county administrator position starting Thursday. More than ten candidates are scheduled for interviews, which will take place at four meetings over the next two weeks.
Commission Chair Jevin Jensen said several local candidates from Whitfield County and across Georgia are under consideration for the position, as are several from across the nation.
"The board of commissioners is determined to hire a highly qualified county administrator that can take our community to the next level in efficiency and effectiveness by executing the board's strategic objectives," Jensen said. "We have greater than 10 total diverse candidates scheduled for in-person interviews this week and next."
The meetings will be held in the fifth-floor conference room of the Wells Fargo Bank building at 201 S. Hamilton St. in Dalton. Because job interviews are personnel matters, Jensen said they will take place in executive session, which is closed to the public and media. The meetings are Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Whitfield County's former county administrator, Mark Gibson, stepped down in July to become chief operations officer for Whitfield County Schools. Gibson was the second-longest serving administrator in county history and had held the position since January 2011. At the time of his resignation, County Engineer Kent Benson was named interim administrator.
Benson did not apply for the full-time administrator job and is not being considered as a candidate.
Contact Kelcey Caulder at kcaulder@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @kelceycaulder.