Hulsey Is Right Choice for City Manager

Now that we have chosen Mr. Hulsey as the City Manager for Powder Springs, let the accusations begin. That he was unqualified for the job or he was picked because he was friends with the Mayor and Council members.

However, before some of the frequent bloggers and naysayers begin I would like to express my reasons for this decision. First, it was not because he was the Mayor’s pick, although she agreed completely with the Council’s decision.

Mr. Hulsey has been the interim city manager for about the last seven months and has done an outstanding job. He, along with staff, presented the City a balanced budget without tax increases in this tough economic time. He made hard decisions, such as restructuring and layoffs at the police department.

He took employee moral that was very low and turned it around. He has been active in the community and responsive to citizen’s concerns and issues. He has worked with the Department heads to provide the best services for the City of Powder Springs.

He has kept the Mayor and Council better informed than any recent City Manager with monthly state of the city letters, financial status updates and emails on critical events within the city such as water line breaks, crime, and even compliments that the city employees get from our citizens.

Furthermore, Mr. Hulsey has lived and worked in the Powder Springs area and even served as Mayor in the past. He is honest and has shown to be very hard working.

He knows the City and the people that make Cobb County and surrounding governments successful. I felt Mr. Hulsey had proven himself and we knew the quality of person and leadership we were getting.

However, others will say he was not qualified for the job. He did not have the necessary degree. My interpretation of the job description was the same as previously reported by editor Michael Stone- a minimum of a BA degree or a combination of government experience.

Furthermore, the ultimate authority on qualifications for City manager is the City Charter Section 2.27 that states, “The mayor and city council shall appoint a city manager for an indefinite term and shall fix his compensation. The manager shall be appointed solely on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications and shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor and council”.

I have known many intelligent people with multiple degrees who lack in the personality, common sense, and social skills. Formal education is important, but life experience is a degree you can’t get by paying tuition.

We interviewed many good candidates who were equally qualified with varying levels of education and experience. However, after much consideration and asking myself who would I feel most comfortable working with in the future as our City Manager, I felt that Mr. Hulsey was the best all round candidate for the position.