Grovetown seeks to fill manager's job in early 2008

Two years after Grovetown city officials agreed to expand city government by creating a city administrator position, they expect to have the job filled in the first few months of the new year.

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They have offered the job to one of the finalists for the position and are in negotiations with the candidate about salary, car and phone allowances, and other expenses, Mayor Dennis Trudeau said. He and city council members discussed the offer in closed session during Monday's semi-monthly meeting.

"We're waiting to hear, to see, if he accepts our offer," Trudeau said.

The job description was finalized in the spring and the CSRA Regional Development Center accepted nearly 20 applications from those hoping to become the Grovetown's first city administrator.

A city search committee further screened applicants and provided a list of finalists for the position to the mayor and city council at a September meeting.

The four finalists are:

- Harmit Bedi, the deputy director for the Metropolitan Planning Commission Office in Chatham County

- Brian McDougal, the city manager for Remerton, Ga.

- Thomas Paradise, a member of the Aiken Planning Department

- Robert Sherman III, the director of Augusta-Richmond County's License and Inspection Department.

When hired, the city administrator will take over much of the day-to-day operations of the city along with many duties now performed by the city clerk and Trudeau, such as writing local, state and federal grant applications and attending meetings.

Trudeau, who will step down in January after 20 years as mayor, said he had originally hoped to get an administrator hired before the end of the year so the hands-on mayor could show the new staffer the ropes and pitfalls of running a city government.

"I think it is kind of grim getting him before the first of the year," Trudeau said. "Maybe at the end of February or first of March."