Interviews Are Done But No Consensus on Hire

Though it conducted a round of interviews on Monday, March 9, 2015, the Quality Control Oversight Committee, which is charged with hiring an Advisor for the Building 8 project, could not come to a consensus. Three candidates were interviewed for the position, which is anticipated to continue until the end of the year. Of those candidates, two were individuals and one represented a firm. The four person committee appears to be evenly split in the direction that they need to take this new hire, and with the exodus of School Board Chair Jarnigan, they are left with even numbers to debate the issue. Chairman David Seal and Jim Carmichael leaned toward hiring an individual with strong experience in contracting, while Gaut and Bradley favored hiring a firm that would have an experience pool. It was noted that the trio of applicants were qualified for the position.

In interviews, all three candidates were asked for loose cost estimates for the work requested, which includes reporting to both the County Commission and the School Board, as well as the Chair of the QCOC. However, the applicants struggled to come up with more than a wide estimate on the front end. The lack of definitive costs was a talking point in the vetting process, which along with the interviews, was open to the public.

After three failed motions, and with consideration to meetings that were to follow in the same location, the committee made the decision to meet at a later date to attempt to come to a consensus.