Dec. 7—The Cumberland County Finance Committee will meet Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 8 a.m. to discuss hiring the county's next finance director.
The panel completed interviews with six finalists Wednesday morning, conducted Nov. 30 and Dec. 6.
"We've had some wonderful candidates," Cumberland County Mayor Allen Foster said Wednesday following the final interview. "We're very blessed to have had good people to interview for this job."
Charlie Seiber, 4th District commissioner, suggested the panel recess its meeting and reconvene next week to continue deliberations on hiring a finance director.
"Are we going to decide then, or are we going to interview some more?" asked Nancy Hyder, 2nd District commissioner.
Foster and Seiber both indicated they felt the panel would be ready to make a decision next week.
Hyder, who also said she felt she'd be ready to make a decision next week, said, "We had mentioned a second interview, so I wondered if we might."
Foster said the interviews had been thorough.
Hyder said, "If we brought them back, what would we ask them?"
Foster said the process would begin with opening the floor for nominations from the finance committee.
"If there's one, we vote. If there's two, we vote until there's one [with a majority]," Foster said.
The six finalists interviewed for the position were:
—Nathan Clouse, local attorney whose experience includes owner of Grace Title, LLC; chief financial officer/chief learning officer at Acute Care Clinics of America; compliance officer for One Bank of Tennessee; accountant at Lansford & Stephens CPA and James F. McKinnie in Cookeville; with a bachelor's degree in business administration and juris doctorate in law.
—Michael Cole, who holds a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in business administration. Relevant experience includes serving as president and chief executive officer of the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, vice president of business operations for Tennessee College of Applied Technologies-Murfreesboro, accounts payable supervisor at Metro Nashville Public Schools, and multiple positions with United Way organizations in Tennessee, Missouri and Oklahoma.
—Aaron Elmore, who listed experience as regional controller for Action Heating & Cooling, controller and director of accounting for Veritread LLC, accountant and assistant controller for TAP Publishing and internal revenue agent for the IRS. He has a bachelor's degree in accounting.