Greensboro Mayor Corey Williams nominated Autron Hayes Monday night as the new city manager. Hayes is currently the city manager of Sylvester, a city in southwest Georgia.
Under the Georgia Open Meetings/ Records law, the mayor’s choice cannot become official for 14 days after the search, including interviews, because they were not conducted in public. This time allows citizens to learn more about Hayes and send their council members feedback prior to the official vote on May 20.
The city has been without a manager for four months since Jarvis Sims resigned under pressure effective Jan. 31 after serving only nine months.
The Lake Oconee News was given a copy of Hayes’ resume Tuesday. According to the document, he has a Bachelor of Science degree from Troy University and a Master of Public Administration from Valdosta State. This is the second time Hayes has been Sylvester’s city manager.
He served nearly two years from 2016-18, before leaving to be Barrow County’s director of public works. Sylvester rehired him at the start of the pandemic in May 2020.
“I see a lot of opportunity. But like all opportunity, you don’t want to go it alone, you want a shared vision,” Hayes told the Lake Oconee News Tuesday. “I believe that for good growth and everything, we’ve got to get back to our basic A-B-Cs. We have to ensure transparency, the books are open, and the public sees everything done. Audits are done. The budgets are on time. The roads are paved. Potholes are filled. Water and sewer, the toilets flush.”
Sylvester had a population of 5,644 in the 2020 census but now claims 6,188 citizens. It is more significant than Greensboro, which had 3,648 residents in 2020, per the latest figures. Hayes was raised in Conyers and the Atlanta area and says moving here would bring him closer to home.
Both cities have a racial makeup of around 60 percent Black. Sylvester has water, sewer, and gas utilities like Greensboro and runs an electric cooperative and broadband service in the city. Hayes says he likes working with businesses and pushed for more downtown events, including July 4th fireworks, to encourage people to patronize the stores and restaurants.
“The one thing is, I’m a little blunt,” Hayes admits. “But I’m always going to be honest with you. Open and up front.”
The city council has struggled to agree on a new city manager, and Hayes' nomination is not guaranteed to hold up for the next two weeks.
In a preliminary vote at Monday’s meeting, only three council members – Chris Moore, Morris Miller, and Cynthia Rivers – supported the mayor’s choice. Mayor Pro-Tem David Neal and Council member Jontavious Smith did not.
It was precisely the opposite of the vote in March for Williams’ first choice for city manager, former Georgia Commissioner of Revenue David Curry. At that time, council members Moore, Miller, and Rivers rejected the nomination, with only Neal and Smith supporting Curry.
Monday’s announcement was not part of the published agenda and came following a nearly 90-minute closed-door executive session.
Following the meeting, council members Moore and Miller would not comment about their reasons for supporting Hayes except to say they did interviews with him.
Mayor Williams was equally reserved about his nomination, only telling the Lake Oconee News, “I believe he’s going to come in (and) add to the city of Greensboro.”
Also, at Monday night’s city council meeting:
• Major Campbell said the council will soon consider a curfew ordinance for children and teenagers ages 11-17. He and Police Chief Rodricus Monford have been discussing solutions to “try to stop some of the craziness and madness that’s going on around the city.”
• Council memberJontavius Smith said council members had talked about holding town hall meetings and asked if any have been scheduled.
“Open the doors up,” he said, “and actually hear from the citizens about what’s going on, in their opinion, then get us as a team together to try to move forward…and address all the things that have been going on in our community in the last two to three months.”
Mayor Williams said that no town hall meetings have been scheduled yet. There was no further discussion on the topic.
• A request to subdivide a 1.5-acre lot into three separate lots on Twin Pines Circle was denied. A group of residents living in the area attended the meeting to oppose the zoning request. Even though he did not vote, Mayor Williams recused himself from the discussion because the applicant was his daughter, Ashley Brooks.