The county has gone without naming a replacement for former director Winford Todd, who was fired Feb. 10 after what was widely perceived to be a poor performance during the January ice storm.
Todd's assistant, Troy Gingrass, has been serving as interim director and will continue until a new director is hired, magistrates agreed Tuesday.
"Troy is doing the job now and doing a great job," Gilbert said.
Gingrass is one of the three finalists for the position. The other two are Donnie Gilliam, chief deputy for Sheriff Curt Folger, and Lynn Wisehart, preparedness planner for the Lincoln County Health Department.
Magistrates initially said they wanted to act quickly on the hire, to get the county's emergency operations back on track before the arrival of tornado season. A tornado did touch down in the Waynesburg area last month.
Though he ultimately agreed Tuesday to put off the hire, Magistrate Terry Wilcher said the urgency to hire a director remains.
"Whether the state matches it or whether they don't, we need to get this done," Wilcher said.
Todd was paid $12,000 a year by the county, with the opportunity to have some or all of that matched by the state if his office reached objectives in training, drills, community education and other areas. Treasurer Teresa Padgett said the county has received $2,372 in reimbursement from the state this fiscal year, an amount based on paperwork submitted by Todd.
In order to make the job more attractive to qualified candidates, the county agreed to raise the position's salary to $14,000, thinking the additional $14,000 would come from state funds.
Gilbert said candidates should know what to expect in terms of compensation from the state before deciding if they are still interested in the job.
Padgett said her understanding is that state compensation for county emergency management directors is based on things like training, administrative duties, training exercises and other functions performed by the office, along with a county's population.
