The Sumner County Financial Management Committee voted Dec. 3 to expand its recruitment for a new finance director and discussed retaining an outside search firm to broaden the candidate pool.

The committee heard from legal staff that background checks on the mayor's candidate (referred to in discussion as Mr. O'Neil/Neil) returned "no issues," though references had not yet been contacted. "Everything has come back, with no issues," Speaker 3 said when summarizing the background review. Committee members debated whether Mr. Neil's strengths as an analyst outweighed concerns about hands-on budget initiation experience.

Committee members weighed a motion by Speaker 3 "to engage the work that's searching for [a] financial director," which Speaker 1 seconded. The motion referenced the cost of an external search firm, estimated in discussion at roughly $24,000 to $30,000. Supporters said a formal search could identify candidates with stronger budget-management credentials; opponents warned a full national search could push finalist selection into March or April and complicate the county's April budgeting timeline.

Several members suggested intermediate approaches: contacting candidate references, providing a practical "test problem" for finalists, or relying on staff at the state Comptroller's office to help onboard an applicant. "If we go into the search firm, we're looking at probably March or April before we move to hire a candidate," Speaker 2 said, urging the committee to weigh timing risks.

The committee held a voice vote on the motion and recorded both supporting and opposing voices before moving on to the next agenda item. The discussion made clear the committee is balancing speed against finding a candidate with the specific budget experience the panel wants.

The committee scheduled continued consideration of the finance director search at its January meeting, and members said they will follow up on references and procedural steps before committing to the full search firm engagement.