ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The Baldwin County Commission put the hiring of a new Emergency Management Agency director on the fast track by reviewing new applications, and setting a tentative interview date of July 21.

Personnel director Andrea Rider said about 10 applications have been received since Karen Blackwood backed out of the $97,000-a-year post June 19.

Blackwood signed a contract June 17, then changed her mind due to the one-year contract and internal issues relating to a negative assessment by the state Emergency Management Agency.

Rider said she is recruiting by word of mouth, but hasn’t reposted the job.

Commissioner Charles “Skip” Gruber said providing a five-month contract to coincide with renewal of other contract employees, then renewing on a yearly basis was “ridiculous.”

Gruber and Dorsey have said the one-year term did not provide enough security for qualified applicants.

Burt said the contract would be valid until the end of the current commissioners term of office and would require three commissioners to renew or amend. The Commission agreed last year to change from a four-year to a one-year renewal cycle.

“This is not different than before,” Burt said. “We are required to review each year. This way, it enforces us to review and see if changes need to be made like an increase in salary or a change in job description.”

Dorsey replied that Burt’s “logic is evaluation,” but the one-year term is a “popularity contest.”