On a 3-2 vote, Greensboro City Council Monday night rejected its first candidate for the open city manager position. Previous City Manager Jarvis Sims resigned under fire effective Jan. 31, so the city has been without a manager since then.
Mayor Corey Williams offered the name of former Georgia Commissioner of Revenue David Curry to fill the vacancy. Curry was born in Atlanta and raised in Henry County, where he served as tax commissioner. Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him as the head of the State Revenue Department in May 2019.
He resigned in 2021 to join a large field of Republican candidates vying for the seat vacated by then-10th District Congressman Jody Hice. Curry lost in the primary to eventual winner Mike Collins. He is now a Business Development Officer at Heritage Southeast Bank in McDonough, according to LinkedIn.
The city council meeting Monday started with a nearly hour-long executive session, closed to the public, for what was called one personnel matter. Late in the open meeting that followed, Williams nominated Curry under new business. The topic was not specified on the agenda.
It is unclear if all members of the city council had interviewed Curry in the weeks before the meeting, but the vote was short and quick without any discussion.
Immediately after the vote, during the public comment period, Oconee Towne Center developer Jim Baker told council members that he was extremely disappointed.
“I’m totally in shock,” said Baker, who supported Curry in his unsuccessful Congressional bid. “It would absolutely have been one of the most major benefits that you have ever had in this area, and I can’t imagine that you could find anybody as qualified to do what we need to do in this city. I just hope and pray that anybody who you hire will come close to what Mr. Curry is.”
Following the meeting, council members Morris Miller and Chris Moore would not explain why they opposed Curry when asked by the Lake Oconee News.
“No, no, no…” Miller said as he and Moore quickly moved away. Council member Cynthia Rivers was the third vote against Curry.
Council member David Neal, who joined Jontavius Smith in supporting Curry, said he thought Curry would make a good city manager.
“I interviewed him. I liked his background, and he could bring a lot to the city,” Neal said.
Curry did not attend the meeting.
Also at Monday’s City Council session: Council members voted to approve the moving of a sewage pump station, currently planned to be located on the property of the Greene County Elementary School on Meadow Crest Road.
The Weyerhaeuser Company has agreed to pay for the cost of everything related to the extending of the line and moving of an upgraded pump station beyond the school property. In the agreement, Weyerhaeuser says it “intends near-future development of the property with up to 300 residential units.
The city water department reported that next week a new manhole will be added at the location of the recent sinkhole near The Ripe Thing.
It was announced that there will be a public hearing on March 21 regarding the proposed complete overhaul of the city’s sign ordinance. The city council will consider passage of the ordinance at its April 1 meeting.
Term limits were eliminated for members of the Greensboro Historic Preservation Commission.