Acting Athens-Clarke County Manager Niki Jones will leave next month to take a position in his native North Carolina, the ACC government announced Tuesday.
Jones—who was named acting manager in July, when Blaine Williams resigned—will become the assistant city manager in Raleigh, NC. Just months before leaving, Williams promoted Jones from assistant manager to deputy manager.
“Athens-Clarke County is a unique, fantastic community that my family and I will greatly miss,” Jones said in a news release. “I am thankful for not only the opportunities presented to me here in different roles in the manager’s office, but also to the incredible ACCGov staff that I’ve had the fortune to work with in these positions.”
Jones took the new position to be closer to his aging parents and extended family, according to Mayor Kelly Girtz. Prior to Williams hiring him as an assistant ACC manager in 2021, Jones served as Raleigh’s director of housing and neighborhoods.
“Niki Jones has been an exemplary Deputy Manager and Interim Manager for Athens-Clarke County,” Girtz said. “He possesses an eye for detail, an awareness of public- and private-sector trends, and a clear but supportive management style. I will miss him enormously, but I am glad he will remain in local government in a great community like Raleigh, and that he, his wife and their daughter will be close to their extended family. Most of all, I am glad for his friendship and wise counsel, which will continue.”
Jones’ departure creates further turmoil at the top of ACC’s government. Assistant manager Josh Edwards left in March to become a county manager in South Carolina. Jones appointed Andrew Saunders to take his place, but now two of three assistant manager positions are unfilled, soon to be joined by the manager, who leads the local government’s day-to-day operations.
“There’s a lot of rebuilding to do,” Girtz acknowledged in an interview with Flagpole. But he expressed confidence about putting a permanent manager in place who will hire experienced deputies, putting the local government on strong footing prior to Girtz leaving office at the end of 2026.
ACC management had been remarkably stable for decades, with Williams serving in the role for eight years and his predecessor, Alan Reddish, for 15.
Jones was widely viewed as strong contender to take over the manager’s job permanently. Girtz had said in June that he planned to nominate a permanent manager by the end of this year
Jones’ resignation is effecting Jan. 17. Girtz said he will recommend another acting manager prior to the commission’s Jan. 7 voting meeting. Although he did not say whom he would recommend, Saunders is next in the line of succession. He has served in a variety of roles, including heading the Central Services Department and the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Girtz said he would launch a nationwide search early next year and would like to appoint a permanent manager by May 1.
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
