Jefferson County Commission

Jefferson County Stays In-House and Hires Markert as County Manager

Deputy Jefferson County Administrator Cal Markert during a county commission in May. Source: Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

The Jefferson County Commission on Friday named Cal Markert as the new county manager, effective Oct. 1, 2021.

Markert has been deputy county manager while the commission looked for a replacement for its first county manager, Tony Petelos, who retired in June.

Markert previously was director of roads and transportation. He has been with the county since 2017.

The commission went into executive session Friday to discuss the hire and made the announcement after coming out from behind closed doors. Commission President Jimmie Stephens said the commission followed the letter of the law, according to a statement from the county.

“We made a hire that is not just good for the commission, but it’s good for Jefferson County,” he said in the statement.

Mike Wheless, CEO of the search firm Wheless Partners, during Friday’s session presented the process used to conduct a nationwide search for a county manager.

Before joining Jefferson County government, Markert was director of roads and transportation for Baldwin County from 2005-2017, county engineer for Russell County and worked in various engineering roles for the Alabama Department of Transportation.

He graduated Auburn University in 1995 with a civil engineering degree, and he earned his professional engineering designation in 2000. He also got a certificate in county engineering administration from the Association of County Engineers of Alabama in 2002.