Former Mayor Scott Williamson selected as next Corbin City Manager Friday

The Corbin City Commission has selected its next city manager to replace Marlon Sams, who is retiring effective April 1, and he is a familiar face with extensive knowledge about the workings of city government.

The Corbin City Commission held a special meeting late Friday afternoon and met in executive session for more than 80 minutes before returning to regular session and unanimously voting to hire former mayor Scott Williamson as the next city manager at a salary of $72,000 annually.

Williamson was one of four finalists for the job.

On Jan. 31, the Corbin City Commission interviewed two of the four finalists, and on Feb. 5, they interviewed the other two finalists for about one hour each before coming together for Friday’s special called meeting to select the next city manager.

“You can tell that we gave this an enormous amount of thought,” noted Mayor Suzie Razmus. “I think just the years of experience and the qualifications kind of brought him (Williamson) to the top.”

City commissioners echoed similar sentiments.

“I think that everybody on the commission did their due diligence. I think that the process was the best we could have done it. In my opinion I just feel like his qualifications and what he has done for Corbin really guided him to the top of my list,” said Commissioner Brandon Shepherd.

“Although we weren’t on the same page we all wanted the same thing for Corbin.  A brighter future, and this was the first step in doing that,” added Commissioner James Gambrel.

Williamson is a 1972 Corbin High School graduate, who worked in pharmaceutical sales for several years.

He was elected as mayor for three consecutive terms serving as Corbin Mayor from 1993 until he resigned in August 2004 to take a position as to take a job in Frankfort where he served in many leadership roles in five different positions, including roles in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

“I loved being mayor and we were certainly successful in many projects and endeavors,” Williamson said. “I really feel that I can add something to the team at city hall.”

When he was mayor, Williamson noted that he briefly served as interim city manager between the time Dave Hudson retired until Bill Ed Cannon was hired as city manager.

Razmus said that city officials plan to discuss Williamson’s start date on Monday. “We told him that we need him as soon as possible,” she added.

Williamson said that he anticipates starting sometime before the end of the month, and probably much sooner than that.

See the News Journal Wednesday for a more extensive interview with Williamson.