Brad Hayen shows school children building plans in City Hall.
East Ridge is looking for a new Chief Building Official.
East Ridge News Online learned Tuesday that Brad Hayen left his position as Chief Building Official effective Friday, May 27, after having been with the city for 11 months.
City officials said that Hayen left to take a job as a construction manager in Atlanta.
“Brad said he likes being in construction, not in administration,” said Kenny Custer, the city’s Fire Marshal, who supervises the city’s Code Enforcement Division.
Custer said city officials posted the job on its Website over the holiday weekend. He also said that the job has been posted in various publications.
Hayen’s departure comes on the heels of the City attempting to beef up staffing in Codes Enforcement. Up until recently, the department consisted of three positions. For months the City Council went back and forth over hiring an additional person in codes enforcement. It was also noted in council discussions that Hayen deserved a raise in pay from his $44,500 a year salary.
Hayen was hired to replace Mary Baier, a much-respected retired building inspector from Bradley County. Baier was hired on a temporary basis by former City Manager Andrew Hyatt to replace Mark Dempsey. Dempsey served as the city’s Chief Building Official for close to a decade. He left his position in East Ridge in May of 2014 on the heels of the city having to amend its ordinance pertaining to the construction of townhouses.
Acting City Manager Diane Qualls said Tuesday that she did not know if city officials had an exit interview with Hayen. Qualls said she had no contact information for Hayen. Hayen could not immediately be reached for comment.
Even though the city experienced an increase in building permits of more than 250 percent during the last fiscal year, Custer said the departure of the Chief Building Inspector is not as dire as it may appear. He said with that position not currently filled that third-party inspectors provided by contractors on projects could be used to perform various inspections.
“There’s nothing that won’t get inspected,” Custer said.
