New directors of finance, economic development
New Economic Development director’s salary questioned
Catoosa County officials have ratified the hiring of a new Economic Development Authority (EDA) director and a finance director, per the recommendation of the county manager.
Catoosa County Manager Alisha Vaughn made the hires before County Attorney Chad Young presented them for ratification during the April 2 Board of Commissioner’s meeting.
“The current policy requires the board to ratify, upon recommendation, all director or department head hirings made by the county manager,” Young explained. “The county manager has recently hired and recommends for ratification Keith Barclift as the Economic Development director and has recently promoted Rachel Clark to finance director.”
Before the new hires were voted on, residents Cherise Miller and Phyllis Williams expressed their concern with the EDA director hire, claiming the public hasn’t been kept in the EDA loop in recent years. They took exception to Barclift making significantly more in annual salary than the person who held the position before him.
Miller claimed Barclift’s paperwork shows him making $70,000 per year, whereas Taylor Kielty was making $38,000 when she left the county.
“Is he filling a job vacated by a previous employee, or was this a new position created just for him?” Miller asked. “The previous employee was half of this $70,000 and was a female. Is this discrimination?”
When introduced, Barclift explained that the previous requirements for the position were vastly different from what he’ll be tasked to do.
“I believe there’s some confusion between the previous position and my position. The previous position was an entry-level position. It required no experience in economic development,” Barclift said. “This is more of a department-head-level position. I have nine years experience in economic development. I also have a certified economic development credential from the International Economic Development Council, so I have the experience and credentials to serve as economic development director and I’m looking forward to serving the community of Catoosa County.”
Barclift, who previously worked with Sen. Jeff Mullis’ office, said he wants to be accessible to the public and laid out his main goal.
“My door is always open for anybody that has any questions as to why economic development is important to Catoosa County,” Barclift said. “Essentially I’ll be in charge of recruiting industry and business to Catoosa County.”
“The previous position was an entry-level position. It required no experience in economic development. This is more of a department-head-level position. I have nine years experience in economic development. I also have a certified economic development credential from the International Economic Development Council, so I have the experience and credentials to serve as economic development director ... Keith Barclift, the county’s new Economic Development Authority director, on why his salary is nearly double the salary of the previous EDA director
After the introduction, Board of Commissioners Chairman Steven Henry asked for a roll call vote. The board approved the hiring 4-1, with Commissioner Charlie Stephens voting no.
Separately, the board unanimously approved the promo
tion from within of Rachel Clark to finance director.
In his post-meeting comments, Stephens pointed to infrastructure as the main reason for why he voted no against the hiring of Barclift as EDA director.
“I feel like our roads need to be put first before we even get new businesses to come in. And I feel like that, number one, needs to be done. Our infrastructure needs to be
ready for that,” Stephens said. “I feel like if we can give an increase in job pay like that, we could use that money more to help us cut our budget.”
Commissioner Chuck Harris said he voted in favor of the hire because he feels the county needs to be proactive in recruiting business to the area.
“We need new business and we need experts,” Harris said. “We don’t need to
just put a ‘for sale’ sign out on a lot and hope a company says, ‘hey, let’s go to Catoosa County.’ We need somebody who knows what they’re doing to go out there and sell our county and bring the business in.”