Hiram City Council has hired a new city manager to fill the vacancy left by the city’s first manager Robbie Rokovitz, who left in September of last year. Barry Atkison, 55, was chosen from a pool of five finalists by Mayor Teresa Philyaw and council members.
Hiram’s charter calls for a city manager to be appointed. The job posting, which closed in December, received 28 applications from candidates all over the country, and the council interviewed three of the five finalists before choosing Atkinson, according to City Clerk Cynthia Geyer. “The whole council was very pleased when we interviewed him. We felt that he really wanted to be a part of our community, and that he would work hard for Hiram...while always remaining mindful and conservative with our finances,” Ms. Philyaw commented last week.
Some discord over use of available SPLOST and Reserve funds toward downtown infrastructure projects had emerged among council members leading into the last election. Atkison brings with him an impressive work history and is highly skilled in all the areas that we need for Hiram, Philyaw said. Atkison served as Cedartown city manager from 2002 to 2004. He comes to the city manager position from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Marietta. He earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in business administration from Kennesaw State University.
“Over the years, I have developed very good working relationships with employees, with other governmental agencies, elected officials at the state and federal level, and other key contacts in business and government. I plan to leverage this network of relationships to accomplish the highest level of professional management, draw on a network of persons with various [types of] subject-matter expertise, and to gain significant insight to the very issues we will be dealing with in the City of Hiram,” Atkison said.
Atkison is scheduled to begin his new job April 4.
He succeeds Hiram’s first city manager in its history, Robbie Rokovitz, who left the city after two years in September to pursue another opportunity in the private sector. The council hired Rokovitz after changing the city’s charter to create a manager-council form of government, as is the case with Dallas.
Philyaw and Post 1 councilman Frank Moran were both sworn-in on December 31. Atkinson completes Hiram’s new team. In addition, Ms. Philyaw’s replacement on the council added another new face, though Jeff Cole actually began with the council after winning his council seat in November. Cole was elected to take over the unexpired term of Ms. Philyaw after she defeated former Mayor Doris Devey.
Rokovitz was named as city manager in August of 2012 after the council changed its charter to allow for the addition of a city manager. He stepped down in September of last year, opting to take a job offer in the private sector.