Potts Chosen For Finance Director
The Jefferson County Finance Committee has offered Langdon Potts the position of Jefferson County Finance Director. In a 6-1 vote, the decision went to Potts on Friday afternoon, December 12, 2014, following an afternoon of interviews. According to information provided by the Finance Committee, five candidates were afforded interviews from a field of 11 applicants. The narrowing process was done at the previous Finance Committee meeting earlier this month, where 10 applicants were narrowed, by Committee vote, to the top four candidates. However, the Committee elected to continue to accept applications until the position was filled. A late hour application from the current Deputy Director of the Jefferson County Finance Office widened the interview pool to five possible candidates.
In a controversial move, the Finance Committee voted (Seal and Huffaker No) to recess the public meeting and hold closed interviews. Committee Member Tucker, who offered the motion to recess, stated that it was his intention to level the playing field for candidates that might enjoy an advantage from sitting in on other interviews. Committee Chairman McGraw stated that no deliberation had been done in the closed process and that sentiment was echoed by several Committee Members. Seal and Huffaker were vocal about keeping the process transparent and, according to Tipton, he also expressed his concern about an open process.
The Committee reconvened to deliberate and a motion was offered by Tucker and 2nd by Palmieri to offer the position of Finance Director to Tim Coley. An unsuccessful amendment from Huffaker to require relocation to Jefferson County died for lack of a 2nd. Though Committee Members expressed their appreciation of the skills and experience of all the applicants interviewed, the Motion failed to find a majority vote. Seal made a Motion to extend the offer of the position of Director of Finance to Langdon Potts and was 2nd by Huffaker. Seal’s motion was approved with a 6-1 vote (McGraw No). Following the adjournment of the meeting, Chairman McGraw expressed his conviction that Potts will be an effective choice to lead the Finance Office and stated that his vote was not reflective of a desire to employ a different candidate, rather his favoring more time for consideration of the interviewees.
Current Jefferson County Finance Director Helton will vacate his position on January 2, 2015, to assume the directorship of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. Chairman McGraw confirmed that he had informed Potts of the Committee decision directly following adjournment. Potts will undergo a background check before assuming office and, if his schedule affords him the time, may spend some time with Helton before Helton departs in early 2015.
