Oak Hill city manager candidates include former Mt. Juliet city manager, consultants

Updated at 1:18 p.m. to correct city's erroneous inclusion of former Metro deputy mayor on earlier list

Email | Print By Nate Rau

Oak Hill Mayor Tommy Alsup this afternoon told NashvillePost.com that, contrary to information city officials released earlier today, former Metro Deputy Mayor Bill Phillips is not a candidate for city manager position at this time, but is helping with the search. Alsup did not rule out the possibility of Phillips becoming a candidate in the future.

“I contacted Bill for his advice on dealing with some of the issues Oak Hill has faced in the past months,” according to an official statement by Alsup. “We are continuing to explore ways Bill might help the city. But Bill Phillips has not submitted an application and is not a candidate for Oak Hill city manager. Our staff mistakenly added Mr. Phillips’ name to the list of potential candidates. Mr. Phillips is being kind enough to provide his expertise to me and the city.

“No one is a finalist for the job at this point. We are still recruiting candidates from across the Southeast.”

As originally reported:

Former Metro deputy mayor Bill Phillips is among the candidates to become the new city manager of Oak Hill, according to a list released by the city.

Joining Phillips as candidates are former Mt. Juliet City Manager Robert Shearer, government consultant Rick Sinclair and Lynn Fuson of Tomlyn Consulting.

Phillips was deputy mayor under Mayor Bill Purcell and left the administration during its final year in office.

Oak Hill has been entrenched in turmoil in the last several months over the resignation of former City Manager Bill Kraus, who said he was forced out of the job.

Kraus donated funds to the campaign of a city commissioner candidate, who ultimately lost in this summer’s election. The Oak Hill charter stipulates the city manager cannot contribute to the campaign of a commissioner, although a contradicting city ordinance was later discovered.

A group of Oak Hill citizens demanded a district attorney’s investigation into the matter, in addition to allegations that Mayor Tommy Alsup misused government funds. But, District Attorney Torry Johnson wrote a letter on Tuesday stating there was insufficient evidence to warrant an investigation.

Acting City Manager M.C. Sparks said there was no timeline for selecting Kraus’s successor.