Dougherty County assistant county manager declines top position in Harris County

ALBANY – After considering taking a job as county manager in another Georgia county, Dougherty County Assistant County Manager Barry Brooks has decided to make his second retirement at his current job in southwest Georgia.

Brooks said that he and officials in Harris County were unable to come to terms on a compensation package after he was offered the position in the county. Brooks recently was named the sole finalist for the position, and the Harris County Commission approved his hiring. Reports that the commission rescinded the offer afterwards are not true, Brooks said.

“We just weren’t able to come to terms,” he said. “They made an offer. We were in final negotiations, but we could not come to terms.”

The job was not one that Brooks formally sought, he said. Over his time in county government, he had met Harris County officials at various events and they reached out to him to apply.

Brooks was hired for his current position in May 2023 after serving in the newly created position of assistant to the Albany city manager and director of Albany Municipal Court.

Before that, he worked in local and state government in Florida and retired. 

“It would have been a beautiful place,” he said of Harris County. “It is a beautiful community. I was thankful that they thought of me. They offered, but it didn’t come through in the end.”

Brooks’ intentions prior to the offer were to retire in Dougherty County, he said, so the lack of coming to an agreement is not an issue.

“I’m OK,” he said. “Again, this is where I intended to finish out my second career. I’ve got a home here.”