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In a special meeting on Tue, Sept. 5, BoMA voted to make an offer to City Administrator candidate Jason Quick.

The search for City Administrator began after former administrator Jennifer Moody resigned in February. BoMA appointed Fire Chief Kenneth Pearson to be Interim City Administrator, and the search process for a candidate began thereafter.

A citizens committee was appointed to vet applicants, and initially, 28 candidates applied for the position, including Quick and Pearson.

While Quick did not make it into the top seven candidates, he had several citizens advocate for him at an August special meeting regarding the ranking of applicants. He made it into the final three candidates with six votes (Mayor Ray Knowis did not nominate him), and was beaten only by Pearson who had seven votes.

Quick won the bid in the regular BoMA meeting on Aug. 28 with votes from the whole board except Knowis and Alderman Daniel Berry, who voted for Pearson.

The special meeting was then set to make an offer to Quick, and set a start date for him, according to the meeting’s agenda.

According to a memo from acting HR Director Lisa Shepherd, “the recruitment for a new City Administrator has been completed. The Board of Mayor and Alderman selected Jason Quick as the new City Administrator at the board meeting on Aug. 28. Human Resources was asked to provide an offer letter stating Mr. Quick’s start date and compensation for a special called meeting on September 5.”

The offer letter stipulates that the “appointed exempt position with a starting annual salary of $135,896. The duties of this position are defined in the Tullahoma Municipal Code, Chapter Three,” and says Quick’s start date will “be on or before Oct. 1.”

Knowis opened a public hearing regarding the hiring of Quick.

Citizen Bob Bates was the only citizen to speak, protesting Quick’s resume was not correct, as when it was submitted, it stated that he was the present principal of Tullahoma High School, even when his contract had not been renewed, and that he was ranked 18 among the individuals ranked in the selection process.

Knowis then closed the hearing.

Alderman Kurt Glick made a motion to approve the offer presented by Shepherd, and Berry seconded. The motion passed six to zero, as Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Mathis was absent.

Alderman Jenna Amacher addressed Bates’ comments, saying “I think this is a fair offer … we were aware he was not an employee of Tullahoma High School [when he applied],” and she added that she considered him qualified due to his Masters in Organizational Leadership.

Amacher made an amendment to the offer by stipulating “the duties of this position are defined in the Tullahoma Municipal Code Chapter Three, and are subject to change.” Berry seconded. The vote passed unanimously.

Berry added a second amendment to the offer stating that the start date be as soon as any HR documents are signed by Quick, but no later than Oct. 1.

Glick added “as prescribed in the Municipal Code, there’s a three month probationary period, and I say we use that three months to develop a contract or decide not to do one,” to Berry’s amendment. Amacher seconded the motion, and the vote passed without opposition.

Berry briefly mentioned that he was aware that Quick currently resides in Winchester and wondered if he should be compelled to move to Tullahoma. Amacher said if BoMA were to require the move, it should be stated after the 90 day probationary period.

BoMA then voted to officially offer the position to Quick. Berry made the motion, Amacher seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Quick was then offered a chance to speak.

“I just want to say thank you to the Board of Mayor and Alderman,” said Quick, “I know this has been a tedious process for y’all, and I know in speaking with each one of you, you have an undying commitment to the City of Tullahoma, and to make Tullahoma the best it can be. I look forward to fulfilling your confidence in me and working with you, and working with our outstanding department heads.”