Jackson Progress-Argus

Jackson — Butts County officials have named the city manager of Powder Springs as the sole finalist for the top job in county government here.

Rick Eckert is the Board of Commissioners’ choice to replace Alan E. White as county administrator, according to Interim County Administrator J. Michael Brewer.

Eckert had not yet accepted or been officially offered the position, and the appointment might not come for several weeks. County Commission Chairman Roger McDaniel said Friday that Eckert and county officials were still working on the terms of an employment agreement.

“He is very, very qualified. He would raise the bar in several areas for the county,” McDaniel said of Eckert Friday. “He would bring much to the table for the county, if it works out that we can get him.”

Eckert has been the city manager of Powder Springs since June 2010, and has experience managing a number of county and municipal governments in his native Missouri, as well as in Alaska, Alabama and in the United Arab Emirates.

He was the top choice of a panel of local residents assigned by the Board of Commissioners to search for, and interview, candidates for the job of county administrator. Brewer said the five-member panel interviewed six applicants, and that the Board of Commissioners, after conducting its own interview with Eckert, decided to end the search.

He said Eckert was the first and last candidate interviewed by the Board of Commissioners.

Eckert, 60, said Friday that he and his wife are somewhat familiar with the area, having visited Butts County in the past. “We like the area. It’s rural and we like rural,” he said.

“Obviously there are some challenges, as with all county governments these days,” he added.

White, the former county administrator, resigned from the post last month. He had been county administrator since August 2009, and had served 10 years as the superintendent of Butts County Schools.