The Finance Committee of Summer County on July 30 approved a job brochure and an advertising plan to recruit a finance director, authorized routing applications to the mayor’s office, and set expectations for budgeting and background checks.
Committee members agreed to publish the posting on multiple recruitment platforms, including LinkedIn and government finance job boards listed in the agenda. A motion to distribute the brochure to the organizations named on agenda page 37 carried after a second; the committee instructed staff to post the job and route initial applications to the mayor’s email account for preliminary review.
The committee set an initial advertising window beginning the second Tuesday in August and agreed to leave applications open “until filled” with the ability to extend a deadline, rather than setting a hard early cutoff. Members said they expect to run the posting at least one month before evaluating the applicant pool.
The committee discussed budget implications for advertising. Finance staff said there are funds available from a vacation‑payout line (referenced at about $39,000) that could cover initial advertisement expenses; the committee directed staff to send a transfer request to the Budget Committee to cover costs before posting.
Committee members also discussed whether to hire the position as an at‑will employee or to recruit under a multi‑year contract. The law director and others were asked to gather sample contracts from comparable counties; the committee asked legal to draft a contract template for consideration so the committee could weigh the tradeoffs in hiring form, supervision and termination procedures.
On screening and vetting, members agreed that comprehensive background checks should be done only on the finalists. The committee specified that background checks should be “as full as you can get,” including standard criminal and employment verifications and, where permitted, credit and public‑record checks. Several members noted privacy concerns and that application materials may become public records; the committee asked staff to plan how to protect applicant confidentiality during early screening while complying with open‑records requirements.
The committee confirmed a proposed salary range listed in the brochure and added language that pay would be “based on qualifications and experience.” The committee also asked staff to shorten and refine the brochure for clarity before publication and authorized the mayor’s office to use an AI tool to produce a polished version provided the final text is ratified by the committee before posting.