Clayton County’s rehiring of a retired veteran of local government to be the top aide to the county’s chief operating officer has angered some community residents who say the decision smacks of cronyism and double-dipping.
The selection of Alex Cohilas’ as deputy COO, a newly-created $96,930-a-year job, also could reignite longstanding political rifts, some observers say.
Cohilas reports to work Monday. He’ll report to COO Detrick Stanford who hired Cohilas after interviewing several other candidates. The decision didn’t sit well with two of the county commissioners. In a 3-2 vote, the board approved $43,827 through June 30 for the position.
“The COO has a large job to do. He has a lot of direct reports I know full well how difficult that job can be,” Cohilas told The Atlanta Journal Constitution Thursday. Cohilas served temporarly as COO two years ago. In his new job, Cohilas said his primary focus will be working with Moreland Altobelli, a Duluth firm the county hired two years ago to shepherd SPLOST projects that have been lingering.
“They have a very important role to fulfill,” Cohilas. “They still need imput and coordination from the county to indicate to them what the county’s priorities are and which projects should come on line and when.”
Cohilas’ return in the newly-created job is the latest in a series of governmental policy changes in Clayton that appear to be chipping away at Commission Chairman Jeff Turner’s authority. Instead of reporting solely to Turner, Stanford now reports to the entire board. Stanford now also is the go-to person for department heads to submit commission agenda items, a duty that formerly belonged to Turner. In each of those decision, the vote was 3-2, with commissioners Michael Edmondson, Gail Hambrick and Sonna Singleton voting together.
Community activists tried to pre-empt the Cohilas decision last month in a bitter rebuke of recent commission decisions.
“The community had voiced its opposition to Cohilas returning to county government,” said Jeff Benoit, president of the Clayton Henry Chapter of the National Action Network, a civil rights group. “The board of commissioners are operating a self-serving agenda by consistently hiring personal friends.”
On Tuesday, the county’s newest commissioner voiced her own concerns about the hire.
“We’ve paid millions of dollars to a firm that may be fulfilling some of the duties of deputy COO. Shouldn’t we hold this?” Felicia Franklin Warner said shortly before the board approved Cohilas’ salary through June 30. She and Turner voted against Cohilas’ $43,827 salary through June 30.
Cohilas will work with Moreland Altobelli on SPLOST projects as well as other capital projects for the county, Stanford said.
Cohilas dismissed the controversy around his new appointment.
“I don’t have any thoughts on any human being who thinks that they have the right to speak for 275,000 citizens who live in Clayton,” he said Thursday. “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.”
He also brushed aside the idea that his return is an attack on Turner’s authority.
“I don’t see any correlation between this job and his power,” Cohilas said. “The chairman was elected as were four other members of the board of commissioners to represent the citizens and taxpayers of Clayton of which I am one. Those who are elected and appointed have a responsibilty to carry out the mission of running an effective government that meets the needs of the people. This is a position that was created by the board who, in their opinion, felt was needed to help carry out the mission of runnng the day- to- day operations of Clayton County goverment.
Now Turner must deal with Cohilas in his new capacity. The pair have been at-odds since the days when Cohilas served as the county’s chief of staff and Turner was the county police chief. Turner was removed as police chief in 2010 and put in charge of the police academy which later was closed. Turner retired.
Cohilas is a long-standing fixture of Clayton government, including fire chief - a job from which he retired in 2010. He came out of retirement in 2014 to serve as COO after the board fired Arrelle Anderson, a Turner appointment, in October 2014. Six months later, the board voted not to renew Cohilas' contract.
Cohilas will retain his pension and other retirement benefits while serving as deputy COO, Turner noted.
Turner said the new position is a means of providing “a little help” to the COO however he said the money spent bringing in the deputy COO could have been put to better use.
“That $96,000 could have gone to bringing in another police officer or to another department that needed the manpower,” Turner said.
Meanwhile, community residents worry that Cohilas will have carte-blanche authority.
“Where are the benchmarks for these individuals in their positions?” Benoit said.
About the Author
