City Manager Tim Young Loves To Fish
Tim Young has completed three months as City Manager of Monticello, and he says one key to success is to treat everybody the same.
When I met with him for this interview, he was on the phone with a city utility customer, and he repeated himself several times, that the only option is the one already given the customer by the ladies in the office. Obviously, he believes in supporting his employees.
Mr. Young grew up in Macon, but has been in Hawkinsville for the last 28 years. He was plant manager for a paper mill for 15 years, but when they wanted him to relocate to Boston, he said no thanks. He had traveled extensively with the job, including numerous times to Boston, and just didn’t think he wanted to live there. That’s when he was hired as the city manager for Hawkinsville, a position he held for four years before stepping down to run for county commission—a full-time, one-person job in Pulaski County.
He was not successful in his bid, so that made him available for the city manager job in Monticello. His wife of 38 years, Nancy, is the extension office secretary in Pulaski County, and is eligible for retirement next year. They plan to make their home here. He says he loves the rolling hills of Jasper County in contrast to flat Pulaski County.
Currently, Mr. Young stays at a friend’s home on Lake Sinclair during the week and goes home on the weekends. The plus to staying on the lake is he gets lots of opportunities to engage in his favorite hobby—fishing. He fishes for crappie and bass, and it’s mostly cold weather fishing, he said. He and his buddies went out week before last when it was possibly the coolest day so far this fall.
Mr. Young also loves to grill. And, his fishing buddies love for him to grill. They invite him along every time so he can cook up what they catch—or maybe what they planned ahead to cook.
Mr. Young says his wife is the best thing that ever happened to him. They met at a wedding where his friend and her friend were marrying one another. After getting to know each other, they realized they grew up a block apart. And, their parents knew each other before they were born. He said his parents remember praying for her parents to be able to adopt a baby. They said they didn’t know they were praying for a daughter-in-law.
The Youngs have three children, Kent, Angela and Christina, and eight grandchildren. He says he thinks that’s all there will be, but you never really know. Angela and her husband and three children live in the Middle East where they serve as missionaries. They only come home every three to four years, he said, but he and his wife go see them. Angela grew up at Broad Street Baptist Church in Hawkinsville, and her husband attended First Baptist in Statham. They met when they were students at the University of Georgia. Mr. Young said going to see them in a previous assignment was like stepping back in time 1,000 years. His grandchildren speak Arabic, English and French.
His son went to Georgia Southern and majored in criminal justice. He is the special operations director for the Department of Community Supervision, formerly the Division of Pardons and Paroles. Mr. Young said he can mobilize 10 Immediate Response Teams throughout the state in a short amount of time. For example, the team was mobilized when the prison guards were killed in Putnam County and the manhunt ensued. He is also the GEMA/Homeland Security liaison to coordinate immediate response to disaster and high profile events.
His other daughter, Christina, is a pharmacy tech for Publix, and loves her job. She is a wonderful artist of the family and has two children to keep her busy outside of work. Her husband in an engineer for Norfolk Southern Railroad and often comes through Monticello on the train. I can usually tell if he is coming though when he gives extra long horn blows so I can’t hear myself think in my office in city hall. Christina studied art at Valdosta State but her art is a God given talent.
“We all love when she shares her work with us,” said Mr. Young.
The Youngs get to see a little more of their children and grandchildren here than those halfway around the world.
Mr. Young attended Southwest High School in Macon, and got his bachelor’s degree in management with a minor in psychology from Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C.
Mr. Young says he is enjoying being here and working with council. He said he enjoys this work, and the customers and people who work there. He thus far has truly enjoyed the cooperation of council members.
When asked about challenges in the city, he said the amount of turnover in the city for the last several years is not good…there’s no stability. Forty-eight percent of the people in the city have been there less than four years, and the city used some 20 temporary workers this summer. He said he’s a data guy, and one thing for certain is the city needs to grow its gas business.
Mr. Young said he believes most people come to work wanting to do a good job. He is working on building relationships with the workers, and improving morale. He said the city statewide has a good reputation. He said he enjoys being here and working with council.
