Walter Scott Carver has been announced as the sole finalist for the position of County Administrator. Carver received three votes in his favor, with Commissioner Clay Jones against and Commissioner Jesse Smith abstaining. The final hiring decision will be made November 19.

Carver’s experiences include serving as the Chair of the Irwin County Board of Commissioners from 2021 to the present, working as the owner/manager of Kyton Enterprises from 2003 to 2020, and working as a financial advisor for Raymond James Financial in Douglas Georgia from 2001 to 2003.

Commissioner Clay Jones was the lone Board member who voted against Carver as the finalist. He commented on his decision. “I voted against the finalist for County Administrator because the Commissioners also received an application from another person for the position. He was way more qualified than the candidate the majority chose. I believe his credentials warranted him an interview.”

The credentials noted by Jones included the following. “He has worked for the past 20 years in South GA. He was a deputy city manager for 4 years. He was a city administrator for 9 years. He was a county manager for the past 8 years.”

Jones paraphrased the argument he claimed the majority made. “He may not be an employee with us long if selected because he has been putting applications in for jobs in Florida.”

He noted his response. “The Mercer Group, whom we first hired to perform an Administrator search for us, brough in applicants from all over the country.”

Jones also noted that the majority brought up “some sort of alleged allegations” against his own preferred finalist, however, he did not consider this to have merit, stating; “in my research, these were only allegations, nothing was ever found to be true, if so I think his BOC at that time would have dealt with him.”

Jones summarized his opinion of the other applicant that did not make finalist. “Why not bring the applicant in for an interview and maybe he can give us some insight into these 2 unanswered questions, if he wanted to share them. Citizens I encourage you to do your own research.”

Commissioner Jim Reid spoke in favor of the choice. He told how in Irwin County, the chairman is the County Administrator. “The voters actually elect their administrator in Irwin County.”

While Carver won the previous elections, he was not re-elected. Reid gave background, stating that Irwin County’s tax base was only $6.7 million. “He had a secured a solar farm that was going to be about a 2,000-acre solar farm, and it was going to generate $2.1 million in tax revenue.” He told how it would have had minimal impact on farming. “Only four hundred acres was row crop land that would be coming out of production.”
Reid told how he received a good review from Rodney Miller, who was on the Industrial Development Authority. “He said I highly recommend him. He’s been tremendous for Irwin County.” Reid claimed those opposed to the solar farm spread misinformation. “He said it got very ugly, and there was only a 20% turnout, and he was defeated.”

Reid told why he considered him a good choice. “I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me about him was his integrity, because even though he’s lost, he’s still got his foot to the pedal down there in Irwin County. And as County Administrator. . . he achieved a lot of grants. He improved the efficiency of a lot of departments.” He told how Carver was serving as the de facto public works director. He told how he would use a motor grader to scrape roads on Saturdays.

He commented on the solar farm decision. “There was nothing in it for him. It was just that it was going to increase their tax revenue by about a third.”

Reid stated he appreciated his experience in the private sector. “The administering of the County is just nothing but running a large business. So the business principles pass over.”

When asked about Carver’s political affiliation, Reid replied; “I didn’t even ask.” He stated he made his opinion on his qualifications. He also stated that two men he knew for over forty years gave glowing recommendations.

He summed up his opinion. “He was willing to stand up for what he thought was correct, without regard to the personal consequences, and that impresses me.”