With their regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 16, the Bulloch County commissioners could approve a contract for Christopher D. Eldridge to start work Oct. 6 as the new county manager at a base salary of $225,000 plus $10,000 for moving expenses.

Eldridge will bring more than two decades of government management experience to the role, having most recently served as the city manager for Doraville, just north of Atlanta, for five years. After previously meeting with him in closed session, Bulloch's Board of Commissioners issued a public statement Aug. 29 announcing that Eldridge was their only finalist for the job.

A waiting period — mandated by the Georgia Open Records Act provision that calls for release of information on "as many as three" finalists 14 days before a governing board can vote to hire an "agency head" — has now expired. 

"With 27 years of experience in managing local government, Mr. Eldridge has the knowledge, skills, and experience to assist the County Commissioners and staff in making Bulloch County an even better place to live, work, and learn," commissioners Chairman David Bennett said in the Aug. 29 release.

When Tom Couch resigned, effective last November, as Bulloch County manager, his salary was $202,456. He had held the job for 20 years. But after local political upheaval over a property tax increase and economic development projects manifested in public vitriol at many meetings and in three challenger candidates unseating previous incumbent commissioners, Couch left for an assistant county manager post with larger York County, South Carolina.

Since Couch's departure 10 months ago, two different people have served as interim county manager. The first, Cindy Steinmann, a county staff member for 10 years and assistant county manager for three and a half, did not seek promotion to county manager but remained in the interim role until April 9, resigning for a job in the private sector. Upon Steinmann's departure, county Public Safety Director Randy Tillman stepped up as interim manager, with a contract that will now allow him to return to the Public Safety Division role he really never left.

Also not seeking the permanent manager job, Tillman has instead assisted with the search.

That search began in March, with the commissioners and key staff receiving assistance from Dr. Ian Coyle and his Livonia, New York-based search firm Pracademic Partners under a $26,500 contract.

"We are incredibly pleased with the outcome of our search and are confident that Mr. Eldridge possesses the leadership and expertise needed to guide Bulloch County's continued growth," Tillman said for the Sept. 16 release.

Before his tenure in Doraville, population circa 11,000, Eldridge was the county administrator for Horry County, South Carolina, population now over 400,000, for seven years. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Clemson University and is a credentialed manager with the International City/County Management Association, or ICCMA.

Bulloch County has upwards of 83,000 residents, and the commissioners control a general fund budget with more than $72 million projected spending for fiscal year 2026.

Eldridge's contract

Eldridge's $225,000 annual starting salary is be paid "in equal installments at the same time as other County employees are paid," and the one-time $10,000 moving pay must also be reported for taxes, states the contract pending approval. 

Any future pay raises would be determined by the Board of Commissioners based on an annual performance evaluation. Clauses in the contract specify that it does not promise any pay raises in advance, and even if the county fails to conduct a scheduled evaluation, that "shall not constitute non-compliance" and supposedly would not void the contract.

Eldridge is also to "have access to a properly decaled County vehicle for use when conducting County business," which could be either the county administrative pool vehicle or an additional one.

If the commissioners vote to approve the contract, as expected, the county will also be agreeing to pay his membership dues in the ICCMA and the Georgia City/County Management Association.

The new manager will start with 80 hours annual paid leave available for vacation and 80 hours annual sick leave and can accrue more leave at the top-tier rate for county employees. He will also be entitled to all the paid holidays.

No moonlighting

But clauses of the agreement state that he "shall remain in the exclusive employ" of the county and "shall dedicate no less than an average of forty (40) hours per week" to his county duties. In fact, if he were to get paid for service on any professional association boards or for serving on any committees "in his official capacity" as county manager, he would be expected to turn any payment or gift he received over to the county, unless the commissioners decided to let him keep it.

The contract states that Eldridge's employment will be effective Oct. 6, but the contract has no stated length of term or end date. The manager is considered an "at will" employee, so a majority of the commissioners could vote to terminate the contract "at any time, for any reason or for no reason."

Despite that broad statement, other clauses suggest that dismissing the manager without a good reason could cost the county a significant amount of cash.

Just in case

If the manager were to resign with at least four weeks written notice to the commissioners, the county would owe him a final paycheck for only what was due him to his last day on the job and for any accrued leave.

But if the commissioners were to fire him without cause, he would be entitled to lump-sum severance pay equal to a further six months of his base salary.

As is standard, the county would not owe him any severance pay if fired with "just cause," such as failure to carry out job responsibilities, a criminal conviction, violation of the ICCMA Code of Ethics or violation of a county policy of the kind that would subject any county employee to termination.

All of those things are part of the just-in-case provisions of the contract.

After a motion, second and majority vote by the commissioners to authorize it, as expected during the 8:30 a.m. Sept. 16 meeting, the contract would be signed by Eldridge, Bennett and Clerk of the board Venus Mincey-White.