Hyde County Hires Interim County Manager
The commissioners, at their Dec. 3, meeting, fired county manager Mazie Smith, who had been in the position since January 2011.
This most recent action was not on the official agenda, which only listed “public comments,” a “closed session” and “authorization for signatures on checks.”
After the half-hour closed session, Commissioner John Fletcher made the motion to appoint Swindell as interim county manager after a motion that Swindell abstain from voting. Swindell will be paid $50 per hour and will only work five or six hours a week, Fletcher noted today.
Fletcher, a retired lawyer, also said that it is legally OK for the county pay an elected official as an employee.
“This will be a whole lot cheaper than when we hired the last interim manager who cost us $3,000 a week,” Fletcher continued. He was referring to David Smitherman of Winston-Salem, who was interim county manager in 2010. “The volume of work in Hyde County only needs someone full-time three days a week.”
When asked if the commissioners had considered (in their closed) session appointing a current county employee as interim manager, Fletcher would only say, “it was discussed.”
Swindell today said that things have been running smoothly since Dec. 3.
“In theory, this is just a 15- to 20-hour a week job until we get a new manager,” he said. Swindell is a general contractor by trade.
Some Ocracokers wondered if Swindell’s appointment constitutes a conflict of interest as a paid employee and elected official.
“He’d be supervising himself,” noted Fred Westervelt, who attended Wednesday night’s meeting.
Swindell also said that a possible conflict of interest was discussed in the meeting but that county attorney Fred Holscher said it would not be a conflict of interest because of how the statutes read.
An internet search of the North Carolina general statutes shows that general statute 153A-84 governs Interim county managers: “Whenever the position of county manager is vacant, the board of commissioners shall designate a qualified person to exercise the powers and perform the duties of manager until the vacancy is filled. The board may designate the chairman or some other member as interim manager; for the interim the chairman or member shall become a full-time county official and the board may increase his salary pursuant to G.S. 153A-28.”
G.S. 153A-28 says, in part: “In addition, if the chairman or any other member of the board becomes a full-time county official, pursuant to GS. 153A-81 or 153A-84, his compensation and allowances may be adjusted at any time during his services as a full-time official, for the duration of that service.”
General Statute 153A-81, that governs administration in counties having managers, says, in part: “…Confer upon the chairman or some other member of the board of commissioners the duties of county manager. If this is done, the chairman or member shall become a full-time county official and the board may increase his salary pursuant to G.S. 153A-28.”
Amy Bason, general counsel for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, confirmed that an elected county commissioner can be a paid county manager.
Swindell further noted that Holscher said this has been done “many times in the state.” However, he also expects he may have to recuse himself on some voting in upcoming meetings until a manager is hired.
The commissioners have posted the county manager job with an application deadline of Jan. 15. After that time, the commissioners will review the applications.
“Hopefully, by mid-February or early March we’ll have a fulltime manager going into budget season” he said.
Swindell said he will travel to Ocracoke to attend meetings as warranted.
“If any issues come up that need to be addressed, I will come over,” he said.
This article first appeared on Island Free Press.
