Commissioners OK Greene

The El Paso County Commission on Thursday accepted the resignation of County Administrator Terry Harris and appointed Harris’ deputy, Jeff Greene, to the top job without a search.

Greene’s salary and other contract specifics will be worked out in the next few weeks. His salary will be between his current pay of about $106,000 and Harris’ salary of about $142,000 a year.

Harris’ retirement will be effective Jan. 8, when Greene, 38, takes over.

The five-member Commission voted 4-1 to appoint Greene. Commissioner Douglas Bruce cast the dissenting vote.

The vote came after debate over whether to open the position to outside candidates or offer it to Greene without a search.

Commissioner Wayne Williams said he likes Greene, but preferred a search to make sure the county was getting the best person for the job. He voted for Greene, though, when his motion to open a job search lost 3-2.

Bruce said he doesn’t think the county needs an administrator. If the county must have one, a search should be conducted, he said.

Commissioners Sallie Clark, Dennis Hisey and Jim Bensberg favored hiring Greene without opening the job for competition.

Hisey, a small-business owner, said that he has done a lot of hiring and that the best hires he made came from within.

“There are times when you just know you have the right person for the job,” he said.

Bruce said that Greene is “personable and eager,” but that he’s too young and too nice to make the tough decisions necessary on matters such as budgets and personnel.

“He’s too much of a team player to take decisive executive action,” Bruce said.

Asked about Bruce’s comment after the meeting, Greene pointed out that Harris was 34 years old the first time he served as county administrator.

“It’s not your age, it’s your maturity,” Greene said. He added that his mother always said he was “born a 50-year-old man.”

Greene graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in business administration.

He worked for several years in the health insurance industry before joining El Paso County as manager of employee benefits five years ago. At the county, he was promoted to assistant director of human resources, then director of employee benefits and medical services, then assistant county administrator. He was named deputy administrator about a year ago.

Greene said his top goal will be to maintain the county’s service levels despite increasingly tight budgets.

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