Lavonia Officially Hires New City Manager

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

The City of Lavonia officially has its new City Manager.

At its regular meeting Monday, the Lavonia City Council voted unanimously to hire Charles Cawthon as the new City Manager to replace current manager Gary Fesperman.

Fesperman is retiring at the end of the year.

Lavonia Mayor Ralph Owens said that the city had received 20 applications for the job.

Owens then called for the motion, which came from Councilman Eddie Floyd and was seconded prior to the unanimous vote.

Cawthon’s selection was announced July 17, but by law, the Lavonia City Council had to wait the required 14 days to advertise their selection before officially voting to hire him.

Cawthon is no stranger to government service.

He has served as a Franklin County Commissioner from 2009 to 2012.

In addition to owning his own real estate broker/appraiser business, Cawthon also teaches skeet shooting at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs.

He is recently retired from the Lavonia Volunteer Fire Department where he served for 21 years.

When he retired in 2014 he was the Assistant Fire Chief.

Owens says Cawthon will begin work this month and serve as the Assistant City Manager until the end of December and then take over as City Manager in January.