Forsyth County commissioners have announced the sole finalist for their open county manager position.

At a special called meeting Tuesday morning, the Board of Commissioners approved by a 5-0 vote to advertise Eric Johnson as the “singular finalist” for county manager. Johnson will likely be approved at the commission’s Aug. 3 meeting.

“Eric Johnson … with Hillsborough County in Florida will, in fact, be the finalist, and that will start our countdown to the Aug. 3 meeting, when we will have the final contract ready for ratification,” County Attorney Ken Jarrard said.

Johnson has served as assistant county administrator in Tampa’s Hillsborough County and has been with the municipality since 1993, serving in several rolls.

Tampa is the county seat of Hillsborough, a county with about 4,000 employees and a population of about 1.3 million.

Johnson received a master of public administration from the University of South Florida and a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Florida.

Forsyth County has been without a permanent county manager since Doug Derrer retired in April after being selected for the position in 2009. Derrer previously served as deputy county manager starting in 2008.

Deputy County Manager Tim Merritt has being serving as interim county manager since that time.

Commissioners worked with Stephen Egan, senior vice-president with The Mercer Group Inc., throughout the process of finding Derrer’s successor and previously said they wanted the next manager to have experience with growth, dealing with a large population and traffic.