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Westmoreland chooses EDC director
By Justin Goble
The Jackson County Economic Development Commission now has a full-time director.
County Manager Ken Westmoreland announced during the EDC’s meeting Monday night (Sept. 22) that Dorthea Dowling was recently hired.
A Cullowhee resident, Dowling received a degree in economics from Northwestern University. According to Westmoreland, she spent several years in Australia with her husband, but recently moved here to stay with her sister after her husband died.
“She wants to make Jackson County her home,” Westmoreland said. “She’s done economic development not only in the United States but in Australia as well. She served on the Chicago Board of Trade along with several industrial, agriculture and agro-business agencies.”
Westmoreland said the county had to advertise the position five separate times to find a qualified applicant.
“She was the applicant with the best credentials,” Westmoreland said. “Her credentials exceeded any that we’d seen during the previous five rounds of advertising. She really knows her stuff. Along with her other credentials, she speaks four different languages and is a concert pianist.”
Though Westmoreland made the decision to hire Dowling, he said he did receive the EDC’s blessing.
“I talked with then-Chairman Rick Fulton, and he said the EDC would accept whatever decision the county made,” Westmoreland said.
Dowling will be given credit for 16 years of experience, and her salary will be $60,345 a year, Westmoreland said. The county will also provide office space on the first floor of the Justice Center.
Westmoreland said Dowling’s official start date will be Monday, Nov. 3. Because of commitments in Australia, she will be out of the country for most of the next month.
EDC members first tried to hire a director in January, when they recommended former Sylva town Manager Jay Denton for the job. The EDC offered Denton the job and expected him to start Feb. 1, pending county commissioners’ approval. The Herald has learned that EDC officials offered Denton an annual salary of $60,000.
However, when that recommendation was brought to county leaders for approval on Jan. 7, as called for in EDC bylaws, Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan pointed out that the position had to conform with the county’s personnel policy in terms of pay and benefits.
McMahan explained that county employees’ salary and benefits are based on their years of experience in that position. Though never naming Denton, since EDC officials had not publicly announced their choice, McMahan said “the applicant’s” experience did not qualify him for the salary offered by the EDC. That stance was supported by the rest of the commissioners.
EDC officials told commissioners that the only information they were given in terms of salary was a range of $38,000 to $70,000, which was provided by Westmoreland, who also helped develop the job description used to advertise the position. While mentioning the duties to be performed by an EDC director and that pay range, the ad did not indicate that the position would have to comply with the county’s personnel policy in terms of pay grade.
In other business Sept. 22, EDC Vice Chairman Chris Matheson was unanimously appointed to be the body’s interim chairman. She will replace Fulton, who resigned from the post in August.
EDC member and Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver made a motion to install Matheson as the full-time chairman, but Matheson said she was uncomfortable taking the position without letting the full EDC board vote.
Along with Fulton, member Eugene Hansen also resigned from the board earlier this year.
Matheson said she would serve as an interim chairman until those openings on the board are filled.
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