DOTHAN:     In March 2019 Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba and members of the Dothan City Commission employed Kevin Cowper as Dothan City Manager. Cowper followed Mike West who worked for the City of Dothan as City Manager for 14 years.

Cowper came to Dothan from Auburn where he served as Assistant City Manager and Chief Operating Officer. Cowper served in that position from 2017 until he was hired in Dothan in 2019.

Beginning his career in 1991, as a Planner in Shelby County, Alabama, he has more than twenty-nine years of experience in city and county government in Alabama and Florida. . Cowper also served as director of community development in Pensacola, Florida, and in other roles in Shelby and Baldwin counties in Alabama prior to his Auburn stint.

Cowper’s initial contract with the City of Dothan will pay him $190,000 in base salary and another $700 per month in automobile benefits. The initial contract term is two years but does include two one-year extensions.

In March 2021 Dothan Mayor Saliba and Dothan Commissioners will be the time to consider the extensions of Cowper's City Manager contract.

There has been nothing outstanding occur during the tenure of Cowper in Dothan. There has been nothing distinctly bad since being on board. There are two issues, both not positive that stand out.

One is more the fault of Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba and members of the Dothan Commission. The original wage study conducted on the City of Dothan workforce. The original study has been hidden from the public and only the revised study revealed. This has caused the the workforce trust in the leadership of Dothan to decline rapidly.

Dothan City Manager Kevin Cowper hired an assistant city manager. There were three finalist for the Assistant City Manager, one of which was a Dothan Department Head. Cowper picked three Dothan Department Heads as the interview panel of the three finalists. Then he failed to understand the appearance of a unfair panel. Their choice was their fellow department head.

Not being critical of the decision, but being extremely critical of the process. How does one expect the process to be fair when the interview panel consists of department heads.

We will see in a couple of months what the Dothan Commission decision will be on extending Cowper's City Manager contract. My bet it will be extended.

TODAY'S AUBURN OPELIKA NEWS CONCERNING AUBURN CITY MANAGER.

Auburn city council votes to promote Crouch to city manager;

AUBURN:   The Auburn City Council voted to promote Megan McGowen Crouch to City Manager Tuesday night, but got snagged on a proposed student housing ordinance.