Bryan County Administrator Ben Taylor has been offered the job of city manager in Camilla, south of Albany.
Taylor could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening. Bryan County Commissioners Chairman Carter Infinger said he planned to meet with Taylor Wednesday morning and that an official comment would be released at that time.
Camilla, the county seat in Mitchell County, has about 5,500 residents and a general fund budget of $10.3 million.
According to the Albany Herald, the Camilla City Council voted 5-0 at a called meeting Monday morning to offer Taylor the job. Bennett Adams, Camilla’s current city manager who plans to retire Jan. 26, told the Albany Herald that Taylor had not signed a contract to accept the position, but that he “expects Taylor to sign shortly.”
Adams is slated to retire Jan. 26, the Herald reported. The city council was hoping to have a new city manager on board Jan. 23.
The Herald also reported that Taylor wrote in his cover letter when applying for the job that: “This opening is what I would consider to be a great opportunity for my family and myself. My past experience as a city manager of a smaller community has exposed me to the critical operational details of local government and has allowed me to directly experience a more detailed vantage point of service delivery.”
Taylor was city manager in Ashburn, northeast of Camilla, from 2004 to 2014. Taylor was hired by Bryan County in August of 2014 at a yearly salary of $95,000. Commissioners voted in October 2016 to give him a 21 percent raise, a bump of $20,000 annually.
Camilla made national headlines last week when its newly elected mayor, Rufus Davis, announced he would boycott city council meetings. Davis, an African-American, said the city operations are discriminatory. The Albany Herald reported that Davis did not participate in the search process for a new city manager and was not present for the city council’s vote Monday offering the job to Taylor.
Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia Southern University.