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Jones County board fires chief appraiser Anthony George, appoints Tommy Crosby as temporary overseer
Summary
The Jones County board voted to terminate Anthony George, the county chief appraiser, and appointed Appraiser 3 Tommy Crosby to oversee the appraisal office until an interim is named; the board set a called meeting to appoint an interim and rescheduled its regular March meeting.
The Jones County board voted to terminate Anthony George, the county chief appraiser, and appointed Tommy Crosby, the office’s Appraiser 3, to oversee operations until an interim chief appraiser is named.
The action followed a motion by an unnamed board member citing “numerous failures and violations of job duties and failure to get this county in compliance for 3 years.” The board instructed George to report to the county human resources department at 9 a.m. to turn over county property. The motion was seconded and the chair recorded the motion as passed.
Board members said the decision grew out of a peer review and a pattern of performance problems. “The professionalism and lack thereof is abhorrent, and as long as I’m sitting here … it’s just not going to be tolerated,” the board chair said during the meeting. The mover of the termination motion said the step was taken “for the benefit of the taxpayers of Jones County taxpayers.”
Anthony George spoke briefly after the vote. “It’s been a pleasure working here. I understand the circumstances,” he said as county staff arranged for his departure and the return of county items.
The board also moved to have Tommy Crosby serve as the contact person and oversee the office’s day-to-day operations until the board appoints an interim chief appraiser at a later meeting. The board acknowledged limits on Crosby’s authority: he has been assigned payroll duties but is not authorized to sign payroll documents, and the Department of Revenue requirements related to the office’s operations were cited as a reason the board must name a contact.
The board set two scheduling items before adjourning. The regular March meeting was rescheduled to March 13 at 5 p.m. because three board members will be out of town; the board also called a meeting for the 20th at 5 p.m. to appoint an interim chief appraiser.
Board members said more steps remain to address problems in the appraisal office, including follow-up with human resources and a planned application process for the chief appraiser position. The chair told staff and remaining employees the board will continue working on solutions and will set additional meetings as needed.
