BRADENTON, Fla. — Just days before a critical decision on how to deal with $3.14 billion of defaulted sewer debt, Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners plan to hire the county’s first manager.
The board, during a regular meeting Tuesday, is expected to offer the position to Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos. Hoover is 11 miles south of Birmingham in Jefferson County.
Petelos, an 11-year former Alabama state representative and native of the county, was interviewed by the commission this week, and said he plans to accept the job.
In a press conference earlier this week, Petelos said his experience in the Legislature and his work with other mayors in the county would help him work as a team with commissioners and county employees.
The job is expected to pay about $240,000.
Petelos could begin work as the county files the country’s biggest bankruptcy.
Commissioners set next Friday as the deadline to resume deliberations on either agreeing with creditors to settle the sewer debt problem or to file for Chapter 9 if they can’t.
The board could also extend settlement negotiations once again.
A month ago, commissioners held their first public meeting to go over the latest offer from creditors to restructure the troubled sewer warrants. They rejected the offer and designated Commissioners David Carrington and Jimmie Stephens to personally take over settlement talks from John Young, the court-appointed receiver of the sewer system.
Carrington and Stephens have met with creditors in New York in the weeks since.
A major sticking point with the commission was the creditor’s proposal to increase sewer rates between 6.1% and 7.8% this October and again in April and October of next year. Those increases were part of a plan proposed by creditors to pay back $2.32 billion of the sewer warrants over 40 years.
The deal would require a state moral obligation pledge on $1 billion of the debt to lower interest rates by 50 to 100 basis points. It would also require that all litigation and investigations of the sewer bond deals be dropped, including the county’s suit against JPMorgan and others that is pending in state court.
Commissioners also opposed ending their suit against JPMorgan.
“I think we need to hold them to the fire and push the suit we have against them to the limit,” Commissioner George Bowman said last month during a public review of the creditor’s proposed settlement.
