Clarkston, GA — The Clarkston City Council held a special called meeting Sept. 16 to approve a contract with Shawanna Qawiy to act as interim city manager after the departure of Robin Gomez from the position on Sept. 17.

Qawiy is currently the Clarkston Planning and Development Director and will be interim City Manager until a new city manager is hired.

The only alteration in the city’s standard contract for a city manager was that the base salary was raised from $120,000 to $135,000.

Council member Ahmed Hassan stated that he believed the extra compensation was warranted because Qawiy will be handling the duties of multiple positions, at least temporarily. City Clerk Tracy Ashby is retiring and the city is seeking a replacement for that position as well.

Council member Mark Perkins expressed concern about the distribution of work duties, considering that Qawiy must handle the responsibilities of City Manager and City Clerk, oversee the hiring process for those positions, plus find someone to serve as interim Planning and Development Director.

“What is the end date?” he asked.

“We are quite shorthanded in terms of the employees we need to have,” said Mayor Beverly Burks.

Vice Mayor Awet Eyasu suggested that in the future, the city should hire an assistant city manager so that transitions will go more smoothly, but Burks responded that that would require a change in the city’s charter.

Qawiy thanked the board for the opportunity to serve as city manager.

“We will move forward and make Clarkston the best that it can be,” said Qawiy.  She will take over as city manager on Sept. 18.

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