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By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - David Neyhart is Pike County’s Elections Supervisor. He has only been with the county for a short time. When Pike County Times asked for an opportunity to interview and introduce him to the community, he gratiously agreed.
Neyhart went to North Clayton High School in College Park. After high school, he started at Georgia Tech as an aeronautical engineer before going to and graduating from Georgia State. He graduated from Georgia State with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He described his IS (Information System) Business degree basically as an IT (Information Technology) degree with technology, software, and the people aspect all rolled up into one degree.
While at Georgia State, Neyhart worked for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) three years in an epidemiology group in a family planning program that tracked infant mortality through births and deaths in order to identify issues with infant mortality. As a college student, he walked in with a notebook ready to take notes and got the job.
He worked at the law firm Trotter, Smith, and Jacobs in Atlanta. He was the director of computer services there. He worked at Clayton State and Flint Tech in Thomaston with computer systems and teaching computer science. He also worked for a year at United Bank.
But he spent 30 years working for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). He was the Database Administrator who basically handled all of the computer issues from personal computer (PC) support to designing systems to requesting whatever was needed to run the department. He handled anything IT related.
Back then, Wildlife Resources was a large division that covered the entire state. There was about 20 offices at that time until law enforcement broke off from them. He worked with the Georgia Online Automated System for DNR.
Neyhart learned accounting and finance through his experience at the law firm and earned a business degree with an emphasis on computer classes which helped him tremendously when he went to work with DNR’s wildlife division.
How Does This Benefit Pike County Voters?
Neyhart was hired on November 1, 2021 and came into work on his second day at 5:30 a.m. to help with the November 2 Election. He had two months to train with past Elections Superintendent Lynn Vickers before her retirement, but he noted that he has not seen the entire elections cycle yet which the county is preparing to walk through with Pike County citizens.
Neyhart said that was trying to watch and learn everything that occurred in that election. “The process is simple,” he said. “The computer system is complicated.” He thinks that his experience with computer systems is probably what got him the job.
When asked about past Elections Superintendent Lynn Vickers, Neyhart said, “Lynn Vickers will be a part of the process for as long as she wants to be a part of the process.” Pike County Times has been to the office and seen Vickers numerous times since this interview.
When asked whether changes are coming to the office, Neyhart said that unless something needs to be changed immediately, he wants to wait and see what we have before he starts making changes.
He assured Pike County Times that he will work with the media to keep citizens informed. “If there’s any information that the voters need, I’ll make sure that the voters know,” he said.
The Registrar’s Office is preparing for a high voter turnout in the next two elections cycles in 2022 and 2024.
Hobbies
When asked about hobbies, Neyhart said that he likes to fly but hasn’t had the opportunity to do much of that of late. He said that his newest interest is STOL racing.
STOL is short for short take off and landing.
Neyhart said that he has enjoyed watching competitions to see who can land and take off the shortest. Two planes can do a timed race as well.
He hasn’t done any of this yet, but he wants to get involved in that at some point. Here are some STOL events that are coming up if readers want to know what this is and see how big this sport is: www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2022/january/11/must-attend-stol-events-for-2022
Closing
So why Pike County elections? Neyhart said that he was retired from DNR, the position came open, and he had the experience needed to do the job.
“I put 30 years into government, and I’ve never done anything for the community. That’s why.”
Neyhart has been married for 25 years. His wife’s name is Amy, and she works at Pike County High School as an AP History and Psychology Teacher.
He has lived here in Pike County for 34 years.
When asked about his preference in college football, he answered, “What is the good word?”
Look for him the Registrar’s Office when you go into vote!