HAMILTON, Ga. - Harris County commissioners are scheduled to vote Tuesday, Nov. 17, on hiring Mark Tyner as county manager, a job that has been open since summer. The county named Tyner its sole finalist in a public notice dated Oct. 26. It is the board's second try at filling the post this year, after an earlier finalist and the county could not agree on pay.

The notice, posted on the county website, said the Board of Commissioners will make its final decision at its 6:30 p.m. regular session that day. The board meets in the Commission Chamber, Room 215 of the Harris County Courthouse, 102 N. College St. in Hamilton. The notice did not list a proposed salary, contract length or start date.

Who Mark Tyner is

The county's notice gave one line of background, saying Tyner "has most recently served as Grand County, Utah's Commission Administrator since 2024." Grand County is the home of Moab, the tourist town near Arches National Park. Local newspapers there fill in the rest of the resume.

The Times-Independent of Moab reported in November 2024 that Tyner is an Alabama native who had spent more than two decades in county government. He was county administrator of Calhoun County, Ala., for six years, managing 350 employees in a county of 133,000 residents, the paper reported. Before that he was county administrator in Bibb County, Ala., for 15 years, and earlier he worked as a city clerk and special assistant in Alabama communities.

Grand County's commission approved his contract on a 7-0 vote on Nov. 6, 2024, and he started Dec. 2 of that year, according to the Moab Sun News. The paper described the Utah job as managing the commission's day-to-day affairs and overseeing departments that include planning and zoning, roads and the library. Commissioners also voted 7-0 on Oct. 6 to make him interim zoning administrator while the planning director's job was vacant.

He resigned in Utah the same day

Tyner submitted his resignation in Utah on Oct. 26, the same date that appears on Harris County's notice, both Moab newspapers reported. His last day there is Nov. 29, a county spokesperson told the papers. That is 12 days after the scheduled vote in Hamilton.

"We will be transitioning closer to our home and are looking forward to reuniting with family," Tyner wrote in his resignation letter, as quoted by The Times-Independent. The letter thanked Grand County commissioners for the chance to work in what he called a unique and very special location. Neither Utah report mentioned Harris County or said where he was headed.

The Times-Independent also reported that Tyner had faced criticism over his job performance in recent months from some commissioners and other elected officials, while noting the commission as a whole had been pleased with his hiring. The Moab Sun News reported that the county's elected clerk and auditor criticized him in a written statement four days before he resigned. Tyner had not responded to that statement when the Sun published its report on Oct. 27.

Why the job is open

Clark Harrell, the previous county manager, told commissioners on June 16 that he had accepted a job as a services consultant with ACCG, the statewide association of county commissioners. He said it had been an honor to serve the county for the past 14 months, according to the meeting minutes. Since then, minutes from July and August show County Clerk Andrea Dzioba delivering the county manager's report at board meetings, and the county's administration page still lists the manager's position as vacant.

The board's first attempt did not work out. The Albany Herald reported Aug. 14 that Barry Brooks, Dougherty County's assistant county manager, had been named sole finalist and that Harris County commissioners approved his hiring. Brooks told the paper the two sides could not come to terms on a compensation package, and he said reports that the commission rescinded its offer were not true.

"It is a beautiful community. I was thankful that they thought of me," Brooks told the Albany Herald. "They offered, but it didn't come through in the end." Brooks said he had not formally sought the job and that Harris County officials had asked him to apply.

What the manager does

A job advertisement the county posted in November 2024 described the position as reporting to the five-member Board of Commissioners and administering an annual budget of about $57.5 million. It listed the county's population as 36,276. Duties in the ad include developing the annual budget, overseeing the daily operations of county departments, managing capital projects, purchasing and personnel, and coordinating fire services.

Whoever takes the job inherits a full agenda. Commissioners on Nov. 3 approved a scope of services for a PFAS pilot study and accepted an ambulance donated by the Columbus Consolidated Government, according to the action agenda. A resident asked the board on Aug. 4 and again on Aug. 18 for a one-year moratorium on hyperscale data centers, and the board in August adopted a 9.13-mill property tax rate that Commissioner Rob Grant said has not changed since 2022.

If you go

The Nov. 17 regular session is a public meeting with a 6:30 p.m. start. The board has five members: Chair Susan Andrews, Vice Chair Bobby Irions and Commissioners Rob Grant, Greg Gantt and Scott Lightsey. Questions about the finalist can be directed to County Clerk Andrea Dzioba at 706-628-4958, the notice said.

The notice says it was issued under a notification requirement in Georgia law and cites O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(11), part of the state's open records statute. It went up 22 days before the scheduled vote. It did not say whether Tyner will attend the meeting.