A city of Statesboro department head, Planning and Development Director Mandi L. Cody, is one of three finalists for the job of Metter city manager.
Cody, who was an attorney at the beginning of her career and later served as Register’s first town administrator, came to work at Statesboro City Hall in August 2009 as a city planner and was named director of the Department of Planning and Development in January 2011.
The other finalists for the Metter city manager post are D. Mack Seckinger, currently Metter’s police chief, and Beau J. Gunn, until recently county administrator in Emanuel County. Metter City Council has a special meeting slated for Monday afternoon to interview the finalists in closed session, Metter Mayor Billy Trapnell said Friday.
He wouldn’t predict when the council will vote to hire a manager but said it could be soon.
“We feel like we’ve got three good candidates, and we’ll just have to see how things progress,” Trapnell said.
He noted that Statesboro’s mayor and council recently relaunched their search for a city manager, and expressed hope that this won’t be necessary for Metter.
Metter’s search began in October after Metter City Council declined to renew the contract of then-City Manager Joseph Mosley, who had served 10 years.
“Joseph did a great job for us,” Trapnell said. “Council just felt like it was time for a change, and from what I understand, anywhere from five to seven years is a normal tenure for a city manager.”
Metter City Council had the Carl Vinson Institute of Government assist with the search.
The Metter Advertiser reported the identities of the three finalists Wednesday. The Statesboro Herald also obtained their resumes Friday. A provision of the Georgia Open Records Act requires that a public agency release information on “as many as three” finalists for an agency head position at least 14 days before voting to hire.
As Statesboro’s planning director, Cody drafted the 2015 Blue Mile Redevelopment Plan for the South Main Street corridor, and assembled the application based on that plan with which Statesboro became one of 15 national semifinalists for the America’s Best Communities competition, still underway. Previously, she was one of the leaders in developing the Downtown Statesboro Master Plan.
A 2001 graduate of Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law with a juris doctorate, Cody was an attorney in private practice from May 2001 to September 2004. She had received her bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University.
In Register, Cody served as a council member from 2003 until April 2007, then as the town’s administrator from April 2007 to August 2009. She was named to the Statesboro Herald’s 20 under 40 list of top young leaders in 2014.
Seckinger, hired as Metter’s police chief in January 2015, previously managed a Riteway Service team working at Gulfstream Aerospace. Before that he taught criminal justice at Savannah Technical College and was chief of Armstrong State University’s campus police and a patrol commander for Valdosta State University’s police.
He has a master’s degree in public administration from Columbus State University and a master’s in criminal justice from Armstrong State, and is completing a doctorate in public administration with Valdosta State.
Gunn, from Swainsboro, served as Emanuel County administrator from May 2014 until he submitted his resignation Jan. 20. The Emanuel County Live website reported that he would be pursuing other career opportunities.
He was Emanuel County’s director of elections and registration from October 2011 until May 2014. Gunn has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Georgia Southern and is pursuing a master’s in public administration with Arkansas State University.
Cody was contacted for this story but declined to comment.
Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.