Baldwin County officials had expected to close deal Tuesday

Negotiations
are continuing
Chairman Hall says
Baldwin County Commission Chairman Sammy Hall told The Messenger Tuesday that he and the other members of the Baldwin County board had anticipated finalizing a contract and hiring Grady County Administrator Carlos Tobar as their county manager during a called meeting Tuesday morning, but a snag in the negotiations developed.
According to Chairman Hall, the Tuesday morning meeting had been called specifically to vote on Tobar’s contract and hire him as the new Baldwin County manager. Tobar had already been announced late last month as the sole finalist for the post.
“We had telephone conversations with Mr. Tobar and we have not arrived with a contract. We are still in negotiations. We all thought that we had an agreement, but we’ve run into a couple of issues to be worked out and we hope to resolve them quickly,” Hall said.
The Baldwin County commission chairman said “no one has changed their mind” and said that when dealing with contracts this is to be expected. Hall said that the matter could be resolved as quickly as Tuesday or Wednesday. The commission there is not scheduled to meet again until next Tuesday, Dec. 19.
“We certainly can have a called meeting, if necessary,” Chairman Hall said.
Tobar allegedly told Grady County department heads Tuesday morning that his last day as the Grady County administrator would likely be Dec. 21, but said that he would be working in Grady County on part of the day Fridays and Saturdays to wrap up some Grady County projects or until a new administrator could be hired.
“We had thought we had an agreement on a contract and would close the deal today, but we were unable to arrive at an agreement,” Chairman Hall said.
“I don’t know what Mr. Tobar may have told county employees there, but no agreement has been reached today,” he added.
At a Dec. 1 called meeting of the Grady County commission, Grady County Commission Vice Chairman T.D. David said that Tobar was to let Baldwin County know if he planned to accept their job offer by Friday, Dec. 8. It was also learned at that meeting from Commissioner Keith Moye that in November the consensus of the four members of the board were to give Tobar until the end of November to find another job and resign or face termination.
Grady County Commissioners held a lengthy closed door session with Tobar Tuesday afternoon and announced at the conclusion that they would meet again Thursday at 4:30 p.m. for another closed door session to discuss personnel.
Tobar refuses to comment on his employment status, but has sent mixed signals to both local and Baldwin County officials.
“I’m really looking forward to working and serving the people of Baldwin County,” Tobar told The Union-Recorder last month.
“It’s obviously very exciting,” Tobar told the Baldwin County newspaper. “You have a beautiful, beautiful county there. Obviously, I haven’t gotten to see all of Milledgeville, but downtown with the college campus; it’s breathtaking.”
He said he wasn’t the only one who felt that way, according to the newspaper.
“My family feels the same way, too,” he is quoted as saying. The article also stated Tobar planned “to work out a notice with Grady County before leaving.”
According to the newspaper article, published Nov. 24, Tobar said one of the reasons he and his family are so attracted to Milledgeville and Baldwin County is Georgia College & State University where he suggested his children could attend.