It’s a decision that he regrets having to make, but Eddie Kelley will not accept the city manager’s job in Oliver Springs.
The son of former Oliver Springs Mayor Ed Kelley, the 51-year-old Kelley said he is not close enough to being able to retire from his job at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where he is a tactical training supervisor for WSI-OR.
The Oliver Springs Town Council agreed in a 4-1 vote May 17 to have Mayor Chris Hepler negotiate with Kelley for the position. Kelley had been included in an earlier list of eight finalists but had withdrawn his name before reconsidering.
Kelley is part-time parks director for Oliver Springs, a job he said he performed for free for six years.
“That city’s close to my heart,” Kelley said.
He now earns a $11,000 salary as parks director, Interim City Manager Becky Campbell said recently.
The Town Council could discuss the vacant city manager’s seat during a meeting Thursday evening. The position has been open since former City Manager David Bolling resigned in February to take a job in Newcastle, Maine.
Before Kelley and another candidate, John Hannah, asked to be reconsidered, the search had been narrowed down to two finalists, Tina Treece, a former city recorder and interim city manager in Spring City, and Joe Abbott, a Lake City resident who is also a sales manager for East Tennessee Equipment-Kubota of Knoxville.
Fifty candidates applied for the city manager job, which has a salary range between $37,500 and $40,000 plus benefits.
The Oliver Springs city manager supervises about 26 employees but not the police department. Oliver Springs has a population of about 3,300 people.
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