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Hogansville has identified one finalist for its city manager position.

According to a press release sent from the City of Hogansville, after an exhaustive search and interviews of several candidates, the mayor and city council have selected Lisa Kelly as the sole finalist for the open position of City Manager.

Kelly has been serving as the Interim city manager for Hogansville.  Upon learning she was a finalist, Kelly said she felt many emotions.

“A lot of emotions were going on in my head, but I think two words say it best — excited and scared,  all at the same time,” Kelly said. “I’m honored that I get to serve my hometown. I’m honored they have the confidence in me that I can do this job, and I look forward to what the future holds.”

Initially, Kelly had some reservations about going for the job. In the past, she has served as interim city manager but did not pursue the position.

“To be honest, I wasn’t ready to go for it. I have two kids in school and other things going on personally that I felt like the time wasn’t right. Now, I feel ready for it, and with the direction the city is going, it felt right,” Kelly said. “I’m really excited about this council. While they have their differences, we’re all headed in the same direction and that was one of my biggest deciding factors. The council is conducive right now to growth and trying to come full circle.”

When she is officially inducted into the position, Kelly said she has many goals in mind.

“Many projects are going on right now that are partially in play,” Kelly said. “I have a long list of projects with checkboxes beside them. I’m not getting checking them off right now. As a results-oriented person, I need to see some of these things done.”

Kelly said a few of her goals include getting the municipal court moved into the annex building, getting improvements made to Lake Jimmy Jackson, getting the city’s water system improved and more.

Kelly has been doing the job of a “city manager” for eight months. She said the biggest change in making it official will be being able to see projects come to fruition.

“When I was made interim city manager, my main goal was to, as I like to call it, keep the train on the track, keeping everything flowing and in order. Now, with the possibility of it being official, it just gives us that green light to go and get some things accomplished,” Kelly said.

“The biggest thing will be having that green light to start moving on so many different things and the time and staff to do it.”

Kelly said state law requires a 14 days holding period for new positions and expects to take the position after those days pass and negotiations of contracts are made.

Kelly said a search to fill the position of assistant city manager will begin immediately after she is sworn in.