The rescheduled return visits of the final three candidates for the City Manager’s position have been released. The candidates will visit Thomasville on Tuesday, October 16th and 17th. Mayor Greg Hobbs said that the visits were planned for last week but were cancelled due to the expected arrival of Hurricane Michael.
“Choosing our next City Manager is a very important decision,” said Hobbs. “We know there is a great deal of interest in our selection process from both members of the staff and the community, so we want to be sure we provide an opportunity for the candidates to meet with both groups during their visit.”
Mayor Hobbs said that the candidates will begin their return visits on Tuesday, October 16th with an individual tour before later returning to meet with the leadership team of the City of Thomasville. “Each candidate will be scheduled for individual time to meet with the City Manager’s direct reports in a group setting,” he said. “It will give the candidates an opportunity to ask questions of our senior staff and also provide an opportunity for city staff members to ask questions of the candidates as well.”
Later that afternoon, Mayor Hobbs said that the community will be invited to a reception where all three candidates will be available for introductions. “We felt it was important that we include a ‘meet and greet’ for our community as well,” he said. “The reception will give those interested the opportunity to come meet the candidates and then provide Councilmembers with any feedback they feel should be considered as we make our final decisions.”
The community reception will be held at the Thomasville Center for the Arts, 600 E. Washington Street, from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Anyone wishing to provide feedback or comments to his or her Councilmember is encouraged to do so at the reception or by making personal contact with Councilmembers via email or telephone.
Councilmembers will conduct second individual interview sessions with each candidate Wednesday morning, October 16th. The Council will convene in a called session at 8:45 a.m. and will then move into executive session to conduct the interviews. The executive session will end with a discussion by the City Council with Renee Narloch, search consultant, regarding their final decisions. The Council will then adjourn after returning from executive session. A second called Council meeting, which will be open to the public, is then planned later that afternoon in Council Chambers.
“Should we have a consensus and feel ready to make a decision, we will consider a motion to select a final candidate and extend an offer for the City Manager position to the final candidate in Wednesday afternoon’s called Council meeting,” said Mayor Hobbs.
The called Council meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. The meeting will also be livestreamed on Thomasville.org.
The final candidates are J. Alan Carson of Lexington, North Carolina; Ron H. Rabun of Griffin, Georgia; and Suzanne E. Sherman of Palm Bay, Florida.