PUTNAM COUNTY- The Cookeville city council named an interim city manager this week, following the recent news of Jim Shipley’s plans for retirement.
The council Thursday night authorized Mayor Ricky Shelton to execute an agreement to appoint Mike Davidson as interim city manager effective March 6. Davidson has served as the city’s finance director since 2003. He first began working for the city in 1997. He holds an accounting degree from Tennessee Tech University and is a certified public accountant. The council meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
The position was publicly advertised this week on the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) website as well as the City of Cookeville’s homepage. According to the job posting, the successful candidate will be chosen on the “basis of their executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to actual experience.” The ideal candidate, it says, will also have “previous city manager experience and should possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major in public administration, business administration, finance, political science or a related field or possess a combination of related experience and education.” The city manager oversees 425 employees and a $128 million budget. Salary range is $102,000-153,899. The application deadline is March 6.
Ironically, Shipley served as finance director before being promoted to city manager 20 years ago. He announced his plans to retire in November.
