City Manager, Rudolph Smith, announced earlier this year that he was retiring in September after 22 years of service to the City of Norcross. In July, the mayor and council began the process of selecting a new city manager by retaining the services of the Mercer Group, a nationally known executive search firm that has done many local government searches in Georgia.
After an extensive recruitment process, the Mercer Group received 61 applications which were evaluated to determine appropriate qualifications for the Norcross position. The Mercer Group developed a short list of eight qualified candidates for the mayor and council’s consideration. After careful review, the mayor and council selected five semifinalists. An extensive background review of each candidate was conducted by the Mercer Group and a formal process was developed for the mayor and council to conduct interviews.
On September 22nd in an Executive Session, the mayor and council reached a consensus to name Eric Johnson as the sole finalist. Originally from New York, Mr. Johnson has extensive experience in local government management having recently served as the County Manager for Forsyth, as well as previously holding upper level management positions for Hillsborough County, Florida which included Assistant County Administrator, Director of Strategic Planning and Director of Management and Budget.
In accordance with Georgia’s Open Meetings/Open Records Act, the mayor and council will make a final decision and vote on the appointment of Mr. Johnson as the new Norcross city manager at a special called meeting on October 12, 2020.
Documents related to Mr. Johnson’s selection, are available upon written request to the Norcross City Clerk.