OLIVER SPRINGS—The Oliver Springs Town Council has picked the son of the city’s former mayor to become city manager.
The Council agreed in a 4-1 vote Thursday night to have Oliver Springs Mayor Chris Hepler negotiate with Eddie Kelley Jr. for the position. Kelley is the son of former Oliver Springs Mayor Ed Kelley, and he is also the city’s part-time parks director.
Kelley, who works at a U.S. Department of Energy site in Oak Ridge, had been included in an earlier list of eight finalists but had withdrawn his name because he didn’t want to take a pay cut, Interim City Manager Becky Campbell said Friday morning. However, he has reconsidered.
He earns a $11,000 salary as parks director, Campbell said.
Also Thursday, the Council elected Gary Stinnett in a 3-2 vote to fill the Ward 1 seat left vacant after Robert Miller stepped down. Ward 1 includes part of Norwood and Sleepy Hollow.
The Council also hired Rhonda West as Oliver Springs librarian.
The city manager’s job 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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