Slightly more than two months after being named the new supervisor of McMinnville’s Planning and Zoning Department, Jason Blalock has resigned.
“We’ve lost an employee,” said city administrator Bill Brock. “Jason submitted a letter of resignation. He didn’t give a reason. He said he liked me and everyone he was working with. I don’t know what’s going on. I do know it’s a tough job. Most people don’t realized how tough. Anytime you tell people what they can and cannot do with their property, you have to have tough skin. I don’t know if that was the cause.”
Blalock started with the city Jan. 5 and his final day was March 13.
When contacted by the Standard and asked about his departure, Blalock said, “I don’t have any issues with anyone, nor ill feelings. Sometimes you just know when things aren’t right and you need to move on. That was the case here.”
When Blalock was hired, the city wanted someone with a geographic information system background in order to launch the city into that technology. GIS is a computer system designed to let people visualize, question, analyze, and interpret data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends.
Brock says the hiring process will begin again with maybe a little less emphasis on finding someone with a strong background in the GIS field.
“There isn’t much we can do, other than start the hiring process over again. We will probably start taking applications in about a week,” said Brock. “We are going to back up and take a look at the job description first. I may back off the GIS just a little bit. It will still be in there but a little more toward codes enforcement.”
Filling in until a replacement can be found will be Josh Baker, the former supervisor in the department who now works part-time as a codes enforcement officer.
Job openings with the city of McMinnville are listed at www.mcminnvilletenn.com.