Anybody who has been following the Loudon City manager search would have to conclude the whole process has turned into one giant cluster.

At the exit of former city manager, the council AND mayor Jeff Harris decided the best course to fill the vacancy would be to hire a company to do a nationwide search to find the best candidate, most qualified candidate to be the new city manager. I think it was like $22,000.00 they spent to hire the firm.

The search firm goes about their work to find qualified candidates for the post. Qualifications for any candidate were established. At the end of the search period, the candidate pool was very large so it was whittled down to a smaller number then whittled down even further. Then after all the money spent and qualified candidates compiled, Loudon Mayor Harris decided he wanted to apply for the job.

Harris submitted his application and resume and ultimately, was not chosen as a finalist in the candidate list. One might think this would have been the end of it, not by a long shot. Even after Harris was rejected, apparently, he and others decided to continue this fight. It was stated at the last council meeting that mayor Harris didn't even meet even the most basics of the required qualifications for the job laid out by the council AND the mayor when the search process began.

Jeff Harris was elected by the people of Loudon to be the mayor, to lead the council in tough decisions but so far, on this issue, he's AWOL in his responsibilities. But apparently, a new title and a lot more money out weigh his elected leadership position. As mayor, after he didn't make the final candidate list, the appropriate thing for him to have done, would have been to take his position as mayor of the city and help assure the city got the best possible candidate for their manager. Instead, his instance to continue his quest for the manager's job has greatly divided city officials, departments and citizens. This process plays so perfectly into the term, "good ol' boy system" that people have come to expect and despise in small town politics.

Then add this to the mix, If Harris is hired as the manager, he would have to resign as mayor and according to the city charter, vice mayor, Tim Dixon, becomes mayor. Councilman Dixon was the one who who made the motion to hire Harris as the city manager.

In the last vote, the council was split with vice mayor, Tim Dixon and councilman Bear Webb voting to install Harris as manager. Councilmen, Eric Newman and John Cardwell voting no. What happens if neither side gives in? The two to two voting could go on forever since the tie breaker vote would be mayor Jeff Harris and he's checked out on his responsibilities all together. Where does it end? Could this be an insight on how Harris might act as city manager? When the hard decisions come, would he just check out again?

I have no idea what the best process should be. Harris might be a great city manager, but the way he got the job would always be a point of contention and remembered by everyone in the city as long as he held the position. As councilman Cardwell stated, some just want to open the backdoor to let Harris in when he couldn't get in the front door.

Guess he would always be known as the backdoor manager. 

Regardless of how this all plays out, this will always be a dark stain on Loudon City politics.  

The council is set to meet tomorrow night, 2/20, 5:00 pm at city hall to continue the candidate selection process.