EVANS, Ga. — Columbia County is poised to promote from within for its top staff job. At their Nov. 3 meeting in Evans, county commissioners named Deputy County Manager Matt Schlachter as the lone finalist to become the next county manager.
Commissioners plan to take a formal confirmation vote on Schlachter, whose full name is John Matthew Schlachter, at their Nov. 17 meeting. He would succeed County Manager Scott Johnson, who said in April that he would retire.
Schlachter has worked for the county for 21 years. He joined the Road Construction Department, then rose to lead construction and maintenance and later engineering services before becoming deputy county manager a decade ago.
As deputy, he has worked with development services, engineering, the water utility, facility services, planning and the yearly budget. He has also helped plan the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax programs, which pay for roads, utilities and other projects voters approve.
Board Chairman Doug Duncan praised Schlachter’s knowledge of county departments and his work on large capital projects, and said the board is confident he can keep serving residents and employees well.
Schlachter is a licensed professional engineer and earned a civil engineering degree from Clemson University. County leaders credit that background with shaping long-range planning, transportation and utility work in one of Georgia’s fastest-growing suburban counties.
As the sole finalist, Schlachter is the only candidate commissioners have put forward for the post. His 10 years as deputy put him alongside many of the same divisions he would lead as manager.
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