Dougherty Co. Commission votes to fire county administrator — again

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - The Dougherty County Board of Commissioners held its first meeting Monday morning following a controversial vote to terminate County Administrator Mike McCoy — and the county commission voted for a second time for termination.

The first vote for firing McCoy was a 4-3 vote with Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard breaking the vote in favor of termination on May 22. The Georgia Attorney General’s Office is investigating the first voting action taken by the commission.

At the Monday meeting, commissioners voted 4-3 to fire McCoy. Heard broke the tie again in favor of termination.

McCoy will be paid for the remainder of his contract, which ends Dec. 31.

During the meeting, the commission heard comments from those in attendance. Four people spoke against the commissioners’ vote to terminate McCoy and five people spoke in favor of the decision.

Anne Hill said she was the first person who met McCoy when he came to Albany and worked with him for 25 years.

“He balanced the budget and he left the county with a $9 million surplus,” Hill said.

One common issue the speakers had against the decision to terminate McCoy was they said it was unwarranted.

“I’m standing up here because I told him what a great job he was doing,” Mike Borrow, a Dougherty County resident, said.

Borrow also said the decision cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Those who were in favor of firing McCoy expressed support for the commissioners and Heard.

“We cannot continue to ridicule our leadership because seasons change, things change,” Sabrina Owens-Hayes, an Albany native, said. “Let’s move forward. Let’s get about the business. Let’s respect one another. Things change. Leadership changes. The distribution of the funds changes. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what leadership is.”

Dougherty County Commissioner Anthony Jones said he did not agree with firing McCoy.

“I just don’t think it needs to change when you’ve got a good man already. That’s my take on that,” Jones said.

Heard said he’s looking ahead and is ready to take Dougherty County in a new direction.

“There are people who don’t believe in this board, and that’s okay. But our commitment is that you will see a positive impact and you can’t make a change if you don’t change anything. So we started with the top and we’re moving forward,” Heard said.

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