A new county administrator is expected to at least be identified by September 1.
“The process is moving forward as we hoped it would be,” Interim County Administrator Tim Hall said last week.
Hall, who is an executive manager with the Berkley Group, began serving in the interim post in April after Geri Hazelwood abruptly resigned in March.
Hall said he does not know how many people applied for the post, the locations of the applicants or any other information because he is not directly involved in the search process.
Berkley was “hired to do the search and the initial vetting,” of potential candidates, Hall explained, noting the initial vetting includes a background and other checks.
Once an applicant was identified, Berkley also contacted them via phone for a preliminary interview, Hall said.
Based on those initial interviews, background and other information, Berkely “produced a list of candidates it considers worthy of in-person interviews,” Hall said.
The five members of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors will conduct the in-person interviews, Hall said, adding that “members of the (Berkely) team involved in the process will be in the” room with the supervisors during in-person interviews.
However, “they are not part of the interview. They are just there to monitor and take notes,” Hall said. “I’ll be in the room too, but I’ll be with the Berkely team” rather than representing the county.
The team may bring up issues missed by the board, and “make sure everyone adheres to the time schedules,” Hall said, adding a specific amount of time is set aside for the individual interviews.
It is important to keep the interviews moving along to be respectful of the individual schedules of board members, Berkely representatives and candidates, he said.
In the end, the new county administrator will be selected by the board, he added.
Berkely representatives may make recommendations, but the “board has the final” decision, he said.