Politics & Government
Oconee County BOC Chairman Puts Himself At Center Of Hiring Of New Economic Development Director
Chairman Melvin Davis told left out other commissioners and administrative officer in his description of county hiring.
In the organizational chart the Oconee County Board of Commissioners passed in August of 2009–over the objection of Chairman Melvin Davis–the county’s economic development director reports to county Administrative Officer Jeff Benko.
Benko, in turn, reports to all five members of the Board of Commissioners.
The members of the county’s Industrial Development Authority might be forgiven for misunderstanding the line of command, given what Davis told them at their Oct. 13 meeting.
Davis left Administrative Officer Benko and the other four commissioners out of his explanation of the procedures that the county would follow in replacing Rusty Haygood, who stepped down as economic development director the previous week to take a position with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
Davis also did not mention Benko or the other four commissioners when he explained how the Economic Development Department would operate in Haygood’s absence.
Davis put himself at the center of the hiring process and of the operation of the development department until a replacement for Haygood is found.
For more on this story, go to Oconee County Observations.
Pictured: Chairman Melvin Davis