Greenville Council Votes to Hold Interviews for City Attorney Candidates

By VICTORIA KIRKPATRICK
The Greenville City Council voted at its February 3 meeting to open a fair pool for city attorney candidates with a thirty to forty-five day window.
Mayor Josephine Mahone-Stargell and Mayor Pro-Tem Mary Bray will conduct the interviews. The Council acknowledged that the city charter does not prohibit the mayor from interviewing, but the mayor may not appoint the city attorney.
The Council passed a motion to table for hiring, continuing the discussion to the scheduled work session on June 3. There will be recommendation for an open recruitment. The proposed application window is 30-45 days with the city incorporating and following Georgia Municipal Association guidelines. Current candidates can reapply.
The Council learned that audits are still delayed for years 2024 and 2025.
The city is non-compliant as of now. The city of Greenville is waiting on grants to drawdown, and 30 to 40 files have been submitted to Smartsheet for the auditor to review.
A schedule has been made for February 4th& 5th and the auditor will set a return date after review. Scheduling for year 2026 pre planning as early as June 30th 2026. The audit is officially due December 31.
Council member Labareon Barnes moved to have a smart plan in place for future projects. Barnes is requesting each project or item brought before the city council, to induce a smartplan. A smart plan would ensure clarity and accountability and would be measurable, achievable, relevant and consistent.
The Council gave authorization for the Downtown Development Authority to allow the engraving of existing pavers currently installed in the downtown sidewalk. They would also like to do the existing pavers that the city has on the downtown sidewalk .
The Black & White Gala on February 14th was proudly sold out.
The Council welcomed new Deputy City Clerk Jillian (Jill) Papalardo.