FMS narrows choice to five on finance director

Of the 23 applicants, more are from outside the county than inside, according to Mayor Jack Lynch

By Charlotte Underwood

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- The County’s Financial Management System Committee (FMS) met briefly Wednesday evening to discuss hiring a new finance director for the county. Interviews are expected to start in about two weeks. Applicant names expected to be released by the county today.

TOP PHOTO: The County’s Financial Management System Committee met Wednesday evening to discuss hiring a county finance director. In total, the county received 23 applicants for the position. Wednesday’s meeting saw that number whittled down to five.

The county received 23 applicants for the position and narrowed that down to five. The Committee met very briefly Monday evening and committee chair, and county mayor Jack Lynch handed copies of the 23 resumes to FMS committee members, who after picking their five favorites met back on Wednesday to hash out who the final five candidates will be.

The meeting started with each FMS committee member stating the five out of the 23 applicants that were their choices.

Top vote getters were numbers 10 and 18, which both garnered 7 votes, numbers 9 and 13 each got six votes, number 17 received four votes and number 21 was chosen as an alternate, with three votes.

A motion was approved to interview the five candidates in about two weeks, with the interviews “tentatively” scheduled for July 22^nd and July 24^th.

FMS committee chairman and county mayor Jack Lynch said he would contact the applicants and request references on the five candidates and the alternate and that two weeks should give time for these references to come back and be “looked over” by committee members.

FMS committee member and Road Superintendent Ron Dilbeck asked when the names of the applicants would be released.

Mayor Lynch said it was up to the committee.

FMS member and commissioner Johnny Bruce asked for the names to be provided tomorrow (Thursday).

Lynch said the names would be released and that the resumes of the applicants would be “ran through County Attorney Joe Coker who will redact whatever information needs redacted.”

Lynch also asked committee members if they wanted to narrow the field of applicants down to two or just to pick the director out of the five.

FMS committee member and director of schools Jennifer Fields suggested narrowing it down to two and having more info depth questions for those two.

“We will check with applicants on their schedules for interviews and hopefully two weeks from now we can start interviews. That gives members time to get references and look them over,” Mayor Lynch said.

Some of the applicants were local and some were out of the county. According to Lynch, of the 23, more were from out of the county, than in the county.

The FMS committee met twice in June to start the search for a finance director, after county finance director Jeff Marlow announced his resignation and that his last day will be Sept. 26th.  That is the last day for the county’s purchasing agent Lisa Bowlin and the county’s budget analyst Richard Terry.

July 22nd and 24th were tentatively set for interviews. The next FMS meeting is on Tuesday, July 22 at 6 pm, at the county courthouse. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-07/10/2025-6AM)