MOULTRIE — Colquitt County has found one of two missing pieces in top positions with the selection this week of a new finance director.
County Administrator Marion Hay announced Friday that he selected Wayne Putnal, a Tifton certified public accountant, to replace Miriam Faircloth, who resigned in August.
Putnal, a Tift County resident, will be paid $70,000 per year and his first day on the job will be Nov. 3.
He was the first of four candidates interviewed and the only one of the four who holds a CPA license, said Hay, who is working in an interim capacity himself. He will next turn his attention to identifying a pool of applicants from which his replacement will be found.
Because Putnal will soon be working under a new administrator, Hay said, he asked commissioners to be involved in the interview process.
“Under ordinary circumstances they wouldn’t have been involved,” he said. “They helped make the decision; I involved them in the decision-making process.
“Wayne was the one they had a consensus on. We had a fine set of applicants for this job.”
Putnal said during an interview that he sees his role as giving accurate information on the county’s finances to commissioners.
“My job is to come in here and do the books for the county and provide information so they can make the tough decisions that I don’t have to make,” he said.
Putnal, who currently is employed as director of accounting and controller at GS Development, LLC & Affiliates, said he was interested in working in a job in government after spending his career in the private sector for a “change of pace.”
He holds a bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from Valdosta State College and a bachelor of science in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
He said he did audit Colquitt County’s books one year and Tift Regional Medical Center for several years while working with the accounting firm of Bowen, Phillips & Carmichael, where he was employed from December 2002 to July 2005.
“My current employer is a real estate developer,” he said. “The current economy has me a little worried, plus I think this will be a good fit. I’ve had some experience in the government field.”
The biggest change Putnal anticipates is working within a government budget.
“It’s somewhat different because governments are constrained to tax revenue,” he said. “Working within a budget to provide the services needed is the most important thing.”
As the state’s economy has worsened, Putnal said, cities and counties have seen some state funding dry up, which will be a challenge.
“It’s probably going to get worse until the economy turns around,” he said.
Putnal said he is not concerned that he will have a new boss here once Hay departs or in the politics of working in a government position.
“I actually saw in the paper Colquitt County is going to have a new administrator,” he said. “Everywhere you go there’s going to be politics of some form, it doesn’t matter whether it’s private industry or government.”
Local News
October 3, 2008
County hires Tifton accountant as finance chief
- Local News
-
-
The Class of 2012 moves on
Colquitt County High School bid farewell to its 2012 seniors during graduation exercises Saturday morning at Mack Tharpe Stadium at Tom White Field. Scheduled for graduation were 471 students.
-
After high-speed chase, driver eludes police … for now
A Moultrie police officer failed to catch his quarry after a high-speed chase Thursday night, but a passenger in the vehicle gave him the name of a suspect.
-
Group works toward accountability court here
-
Students win for perfect attendance
-
Dough Boys Pizza open for business
-
Barber Tucker Inn reopens
-
Case ready for Jury
The 16 jurors in the trial of five alleged gang members finished hearing all of the evidence in the case Friday afternoon and could begin deliberating as early as Tuesday.
-
City pools to open Monday
-
Tragedy to keep Ryan James from graduation
Ryan won’t walk after all.
A hue and cry went up earlier this week when the Colquitt County Board of Education refused to let a senior with a developmental disability walk at today’s graduation. The board reversed its decision on Wednesday, but tragic events will prevent Ryan James from joining his classmates at Mack Tharpe Stadium. -
'Farewell Concert' set for Sunday
- More Local News Headlines
-
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
