By AMBER PATINO
The Washington County Board of County Commissioners voted Thursday, November 6, to appoint Andrew Fleener as the county’s next administrator, following a multi-step selection process.
The process began October 23 with commissioners reviewing applications and ranking candidates, selecting the top scorers to be called for public interviews; however, county attorneys Clay Milton and Matthew Fuqua clarified in a previous meeting that while the rankings for both the candidate selection process and the interview process exist to help commissioners make a selection, they are not bound by the order of the rankings in their final selection.
“You’re not bound by your rankings,” said Fuqua during the October 16 Board of Commissioners workshop. “You’re just interviewing them, and your ranking is just for your information to maybe help you decide who you want to interview and who you don’t interview. You’re not bound to hire the number one [choice] after the interviews.”
Public interviews took place Wednesday, November 5, with candidates responding to questions about their leadership experience, community engagement, and vision for the administrator role.
Commissioners revisited their rankings when they met again in regular session November 6, assigning scores to their top three candidates. James Williams received the highest overall score with 90 points, followed by Christopher Hyatt with 80, Andrew Fleener with 75, and Archie “Trey” Cook with 55.
Despite Fleener ranking third overall, three commissioners selected him as their top choice. District 5 Commissioner David Corbin pointed to this consensus during discussion.
“I understand the ranking system but also understand that there’s three [commissioners] that had a clear same choice for their number one pick,” said Corbin. “I’d take that into consideration that you had three all pick the same one for first place.”
District 1 Commissioner Ashlynn Marquez made a motion to appoint Fleener, seconded by Corbin. The motion prompted public input, including from resident Benita Crittendon, who voiced concerns about the selection process.
“This whole process has been not organized by any means,” said Crittendon. “Because you have a split board, y’all have cancelled each other out, and none of y’all have gotten your first picks, and you’ve ended up with a second pick.”
“You created this system, this system failed you, and now you want to replay the system,” Crittendon continued. “In the beginning I felt like it was very good; this was gonna be transparent. We were gonna have interviews, you know, [the process] was gonna be cut down. You were gonna interview so that the public could see and watch. You have a transparent voting system. The point system makes no sense to me, but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion.”
Crittendon also voiced concerns over the transparency of the process, referencing delays in posting interview recordings.
Chairman David Pettis acknowledged technical issues with the interview video, which is lacking audio for the first portion of the recording. Since the writing of this article, the video has been posted to the county website. He assured the public that the delay was not intentional and emphasized the board’s efforts to maintain transparency.
“We have struggled and done our dangdest to make this the most fair and as transparent as we can do, and to make it the best process that we could do, to work with,” said Pettis. “I cannot answer for these ladies and gentlemen right here, but I will tell you from my point of view I have done nothing, I [don’t] know of anything the staff of this county has done to sway this decision, or to be undermined, or to be not transparent. At the end of the day, it’s going to shake out to where somebody is not happy. Whether it be other board members, whether it be staff, whether it be people sitting in this audience and in this community.”
The motion to appoint Fleener passed in a 3–2 vote, with Pettis, Marquez, and Corbin voting in favor. Commissioners Wesley Griffin and Joey Brock opposed the motion, citing concerns about the process.
“Why are we even doing this scoring thing if it ain’t gonna work anyway?” Griffin asked, explaining that his vote was based on his evaluation of the interview performances and candidate qualifications. “Nothing against [Fleener], nothing against that. What I’m saying is this process is just not right to me the way we did this.”
Commissioner Brock echoed Griffin’s input, stating that his choice of Hyatt as his number one pick was based on the quality of the interview conducted the previous day and the candidate’s experience, citing Hyatt’s 15 years of experience with working for the county.
“I want an answer from the board, from somebody. Give me an answer,” said Brock. “He had a good interview; he’s been here 15 years. Give the man a chance is the way I see it, that’s why I put him first.”
Chairman Pettis and Commissioner Marquez explained their choice of Fleener, stating that, based on the applications submitted, they felt that there were two clear candidates, Williams and Fleener, but ultimately chose Fleener due to his qualifications.
“This was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make as a board member,” said Marquez. “When I looked at the applications and I looked at the qualifications for the job, for me there were only two qualified applicants that met that.”
Before adjourning, Pettis reiterated his commitment to integrity throughout the process.
“Nobody on this board, nobody in this building has swayed my decision whatsoever. You can ask these ladies right here, I’ve done everything I can do to keep this as seamless and to do this with as much integrity that I can do.”
The Board of County Commissioners will meet again in regular session at 9 a.m., Thursday, November 13.
Ali Moreland