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City Council appoints Jacob Evans as Dawsonville city manager in 3-1 vote
Summary
The Dawsonville City Council voted 3-1 on July 14 to appoint Jacob Evans as city manager after a short public special meeting in which one council member expressed concerns about Evans’ experience and the selection process.
The Dawsonville City Council appointed Jacob Evans as city manager in a 3-1 vote during a July 14 special meeting, after one council member questioned whether the interim manager has sufficient executive experience and whether candidates had been compared before the vote.
Evans, who had been serving as interim city manager, was formally appointed after a motion to hire him passed. The motion was seconded by Council member Sandy Sawyer. Council member Eells moved to adjourn the meeting after the vote.
The appointment was brief but included sustained discussion from one council member who said on the record, “I like Jacob. I think he's a good man. I think he can do the job,” then added, “I don't think he's ready for it yet,” and asked how many individuals were considered and what criteria guided the selection. That council member cited “section 3.14” on the appointment of a city manager and said the manager should be appointed “on the basis of his or her executive and administrative qualifications.”
Council members Kayla Phillips and Sandy Sawyer voted in favor; the meeting record shows the final tally announced as “3 1.” No individual roll-call votes were provided in the transcript. No public commenters were signed up for the meeting.
Mayor John Walden thanked the city’s outgoing manager for nearly nine years of service during brief remarks following the vote; the mayor said he was grateful for the former manager’s work during storms and other events. The transcript shows inconsistent spellings of the former manager’s surname; the speaker described the person as the city’s previous manager who served nearly nine years.
The council did not record any formal direction to staff beyond the appointment, and no effective date for Evans’s appointment was stated in the meeting transcript. One council member closed by offering to support Evans personally, saying, “if this is the council's decision, I will help you any way I can, and I want to see you succeed.”
The meeting opened with roll call and an invocation, included no public input, and adjourned shortly after the vote.
