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Former commissioners’ head to be Sylva’s manager
By Lynn Hotaling and Justin Goble
 Sylva leaders last Thursday (Aug. 18) tapped a former elected official to be the town’s second appointed manager.
Jay Denton, who was Jackson County’s commissioners’ chairman from 1998-2002 and served as full-time county manager for most of his term, was the unanimous choice to take over the administration of the county seat.
Sylva board member Maurice Moody made the motion to hire Denton, the acknowledged frontrunner, and he was approved with little discussion. The vote was 4-0, with board member Eldridge Painter absent.
Mayor Brenda Oliver said she and town board members are pleased to find someone of Denton’s caliber to take over as manager.
“We went through a very thorough application process,” she said. “We interviewed six and then re-interviewed three.
“We feel Jay brings a lot of assets to this position: he’s local, he knows the county, he has experience working with WCU – we just feel that he’ll be a good fit for the town of Sylva,” Oliver said.
Denton’s annual salary will be $45,001, according to Sylva town clerk Alison Lyons.
The town’s new manager said he’s looking forward to starting work next Thursday, Sept. 1.
“It will be a different role for me,” Denton said. “As town manager I’ll be an administrator, not a policy maker – I’ll carry out the policies set forth by the town board. That was an enjoyable part of my experience as commissioners’ chairman/county manager.”
Denton described the interviews that led to his selection as “extensive,” and said they centered around his philosophy of leadership and budget knowledge.
“They were good interviews,” he said.
One factor Denton thinks will help in his new job is his experience as an elected official.
“I think I’ll be much more sensitive to what elected officials go through than someone who has never held public office,” he said. “I’ll have more insight, which I think will help me and hopefully will help the board.”
Another plus he will bring to the job is education, he said.
“I finished the Master of Public Administration program at Western Carolina University in May,” he said. “There’s a lot I learned that I wish I’d known while I was county manager. But on the other hand, even if I’d gone to school before, my classes wouldn’t have meant as much without a firsthand understanding of the pressures faced by administrators and elected officials.”
Denton said one of his duties as Sylva’s manager will be to assist board members and make recommendations to them.
“My job will be to provide the board members with all the information they need to develop their policies,” Denton said.
Denton’s new post will include managing day-to-day operations at City Hall, and he said he looks forward to working with the competent staff that’s already in place.
“Sylva’s board members seem to be pleased with their department heads,” Denton said. “I worked with a good crew at the county, and I understand there’s a top-knotch staff in place at the town.”
The new manager said he thought his Jackson County roots gave him a leg up with town officials, though he does not know the identity of any of Sylva’s other candidates.
“(Board members) picked the person they felt most comfortable with,” Denton said. “I think they wanted someone with local ties who understands the area.”
Denton, who grew up in the Addie area, attended Scotts Creek Elementary before graduating from Sylva-Webster High School in 1974. He earned his bachelor’s degree at WCU four years later.
A biology teacher at Smoky Mountain High School when he was elected commissioners’ chairman, Denton most recently worked in the Center for Regional Development at Western Carolina University.
The county’s form of government changed during Denton’s tenure as commissioners’ chairman. Jackson was the last county in the state to have its elected commissioners’ chairman serve as county manager. In a 2000 referendum, 62 percent of county voters supported Jackson joining the state’s 99 other counties by changing to an appointed county manager.
That method was implemented in June 2001. Though no longer the county’s chief administrator, Denton remained commissioners’ chairman through the end of his term in December 2002; he did not seek re-election.
Denton and his wife, Soraya, live on Brooks Branch in Sylva’s Greens Creek area.
Denton will replace Richard McHargue, who left in June to accept a job in his native Iredell County. McHargue, who had been director of Sylva Partners in Renewal, became Sylva’s first town manager in January 2002.
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