County manager for Macon-Bibb resigns

Macon-Bibb County Manager Dale Walker is stepping down in his role as the person who runs the county’s day-to-day operations.

Walker’s resignation was effective immediately, as he retires after more than 30 years of working in government, Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore said Monday afternoon.

An attempt to reach Walker Monday afternoon was not successful. The message queue on his phone was full.

Walker came to Macon in 2011 as the chief financial officer for the city before being appointed as chief administrative officer. Mayor Robert Reichert then made Walker the county manager when Macon and Bibb consolidated on Jan. 1, 2014.

Before that, he spent time working in Michigan, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Among his former roles were chairman of the board for the Michigan Municipal Employees Retirement System and on the board of directors for the city of Cadillac retirement system, according to the Macon-Bibb website.

Walker has been at odds with some county commissioners, including claims lodged at him that he had manipulated pension plan scores in favor of one company.

Commissioners Gary Bechtel and Larry Schlesinger said they were misled when Walker recommended Independent Portfolio Consultants to manage the three Macon-Bibb related plans in 2014. At the time, the commissioners said they were unaware of Walker’s previous professional relationship with a then-IPC senior consultant.

Walker was also subpoenaed to testify in late March in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation regarding three Macon-Bibb pension plans and IPC.

County Commissioner Al Tillman said he has had a positive relationship with Walker, but that Walker struggled with the political nature of his position. Walker’s a man of few words, and his taciturn communication style rubbed some officials the wrong way.

“I overall had a good experience with him,” Tillman said Monday afternoon. “I’ve been able to call him to get stuff done. I just think he didn’t know how to play the political side of things. I think that’s what he was lacking in. As far as a numbers guy, he knows that, but it did not trickle over to politics.”

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "County manager for Macon-Bibb resigns."