By DOTTY NIST
Negotiations were authorized on Aug. 27 to bring current Walton County Special Projects Coordinator/former Walton County Commissioner Larry Jones on board as county administrator.
The decision took place at the Walton County Board of County Commissioners regular meeting at the Walton County Courthouse.
The numerical ranking method that had recently been used to select a new Walton County Tourist Development Council director was used by the commissioners again to assist with a decision to fill the vacant county administrator seat.
In addition to Jones, the field of finalist candidates consisted of Jack Brown of Taylor County, Tony Gomillion of Santa Rosa County, and Ron Rabun of Spalding County, Ga.
Jones received top ranking from four of the five county commissioners, with District 4 Commissioner Sara Comander selecting Brown as her top choice and ranking Jones second.
Overall, second to Jones, Brown also got the highest number of points in numerical scoring, followed by Gomillion and then Rabun.
Following the tabulation of results, a motion to approve negotiations with Jones was approved unanimously.
After the vote, County Commission Chairman Kenneth Pridgen stated that he would like Jones to be able to start work as county administrator “tomorrow morning.” “Yes sir,” Jones responded.