Spalding County Board of Commissioners Chairman Eddie Goss provided an update on the search for the new county manager.

“Actually, I went over some resumes,” he said. “I went over about 10 (Friday) afternoon with (Spalding County Human Resources Director Bill) Gay.”

He estimated there were 13 to 14 resumes left to read. He wants to reduce the number of candidates to between five and 10 before he takes them to the rest of the commissioners. He hopes to have the number of candidates reduced to this number within the next couple of weeks.

According to earlier reporting by the Griffin Daily News, the county began the vetting process with 43 applications by late February. Candidates for the position applied from as far away as Montana. By May, more than half of the applicants had been eliminated. The candidates are vying to replace former Spalding County Manager William Wilson Jr., who resigned his position in December after his contract was not renewed.

Spalding County Vice-Chairwoman Gwen Flowers-Taylor has also participated in the selection process.

“Once I go over my last few, I will get to Ms. Taylor and we will compare,” Goss said.

This will be the last step before the finalists are brought before the board. He said it has been difficult coordinating his schedule and that of Gay and Flowers-Taylor.

He said it was hard to tell how long it will take for the full board to pick a candidate out of the five to 10 finalists because the board will need to schedule meetings and closed sessions. He hopes to have a final choice made by Aug. 1.

“She is still a candidate for the county manager’s job,” Goss said when asked about Virginia Martin, who is serving as interim assistant county manager. Former Assistant County Manager Paul Van Haute resigned in late January to become the Putnam County Manager.

He said once the county manager position is filled, the assistant county manager job will be decided on. Goss said he, Gay and the new county manager will sit down to discuss the position.

“I think the county manager needs to have some input into who the assistant will be,” he said.

He said Interim County Manager Tim Whalen and Martin have been doing an outstanding job.