THOMASVILLE — A Thomasville City Council member said he was “caught completely off guard” when a fellow council member said Wednesday he had seen resumes of applicants in the city manager search.

“I was not aware that anyone had access yet,” said Council member Jay Flowers, who added he spoke Thursday with Renee’ Narloch, the Tallahassee, Florida, recruiter conducting the city manager search.

Flowers said Narloch was apologetic that the entire council was not informed when Council member David Hufstetler and Mayor Greg Hobbs went to see her and look at resumes.

“After an hour call, I feel like I now have the same amount of info,” Flowers said.

Flowers said there are “six to eight very interesting candidates” in a pool of more than 30 applicants.

The recruiters will meet with the city council in a closed session Wednesday afternoon to review resumes. Flowers said the council will select three or four candidates to come to Thomasville to be interviewed.

At a Wednesday meeting of the council utilities committee, Hufstetler said eight applicants for the city manager position appear to be “superstars,” according to resumes he saw.

Hufstetler said only two council members could meet with the recruiter. Three of the five-member body making the trip would have constituted an illegal meeting in violation of Georgia’s open meetings law.

Hufstetler said at the meeting he asked Council member Terry Scott to accompany him to meet with the recruiter.

Acknowledging the invitation, Scott said, “Let’s get it back on track.”

A resident attending the meeting questioned why Hufstetler was “micromanaging” the city manager selection process.

Council member Todd Mobley, who did not meet with the recruiter, said Thursday he would not have wanted to.

“I trust Narloch and her expertise to present the council the most qualified candidates when we meet with her next week,” Mobley said.

Hobbs said the council will interview candidates as a group and individually.

“It’s unfortunate we’ve had a lot of distractions,” the mayor said at the Wednesday meeting.

The mayor said the distractions are making it “complicated” for people who want to come to Thomasville to work.

“We haven’t accomplished anything,” Hobbs added, noting Thomasville has been without a permanent city manager for almost nine months.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820