The Decatur County Board of Commissioners is in the process of hiring a new county administrator to replace former administrator Gary Breedlove, and I appreciate them for seemingly taking their time to get the right man.

However, I was concerned to hear news that after having background checks on four of the final candidates returned to the board, Decatur County Commissioner Butch Moseley via email recommended they start the process over, this time with the help of an outside consultant.

Now, this has not been voted on yet. At Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Decatur County Chairman Dennis Brinson said the county administrator position was discussed while in executive session, but no action was taken. Whether to scrap the list they have now and start over or not is not decided. All the commissioners need to be in the same room, and agree together, before making a decision like that.

It has been 57 days since Breedlove resignation became effective on April 30. In the meantime, interim administrator Perry Henry has filled the seat well, but has also made clear he has his own business to run at Perry Henry LLC. This is not a full-time gig for him by any means. The board also was adamant about filling the seat as quickly as possible so as not to impede Henry on his full-time job.

But if the board does decide to start over on the search for a new Decatur County administrator, while it would draw this already long process out even more, it would be a better decision than hiring someone they (whether it’s just one commissioner or all of them) were not entirely comfortable with to begin with.

If it takes more time, then so be it. The important thing here is to find the right guy or gal for the job, the one who will come in with a fresh perspective and help get this county on the right track.

The clock is ticking, and residents are getting restless, but the road will get a whole lot bumpier if the wrong person is sitting up there with the commissioners on Tuesdays.