Yes, Chris Eldridge, newly hired to be Bulloch County’s county manager beginning Oct. 6, has heard about lingering local political friction and the growth-related issues here. But he said he sees opportunity for cooperation and appreciates the challenge of “work to be done.”

Now concluding his five years as city manager for Doraville, which is in DeKalb County northeast of Atlanta proper but very much part of the metro area, Eldridge is preparing to move to Bulloch County, where the county seat is Statesboro, in the next two weeks. He already has a house in Bulloch under contract and is slated to close on the purchase the end of next week, he said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Although originally from Tucker, which is also in DeKalb County, Eldridge, now 54, spent roughly the first 15

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