Westmoreland to be manager; Buchanan to serve in interim

By Carey Phillips and Lynn Hotaling

Jackson County's Board of Commissioners made the decision to hire Ken Westmoreland of Greer, S.C., during a called meeting Friday (June 29). The motion to hire Westmoreland, made by Commissioner Stacy Buchanan, passed by a 3-2 margin. Commissioners Buchanan, Conrad Burrell and Roberta Crawford supported Westmoreland; Commissioners' Chairman Jay Denton and Commissioner Franz Whitmire cast the dissenting votes.

Denton said his "no" vote "was not so much against the individual," but that he felt the county "would be possibly better served by someone who knows Jackson County better."

In an unexpected move, county leaders named Buchanan interim county manager. Buchanan, a teacher and coach at Smoky Mountain High School, will head county government during the month of July. He will be paid $24.44 per hour to fill the office for a month, according to Darlene Fox, Jackson County finance officer.

Crawford's motion to name Buchanan interim manager passed by a 4-1 margin. Supporting the proposal were Buchanan, Burrell, Crawford and Whitmire; however, Whitmire said Monday that he had intended to vote "no." Denton cast the opposing vote.

Denton, who served as full-time county manager since the current commissioners took office in December 1998, announced last week that he would not stay on past June 30.

When commissioners were asked who would lead the county after June 30, the consensus seemed to be that department heads could handle things until a full-time manager was hired.

"I think in that short a period of time we could operate without one," Buchanan said. "July is always our slowest month anyway. It's always cut and dry as far as our meetings are concerned." Those plans changed Friday when commissioners decided to put Buchanan in charge for a month. "It really isn't fair to bring someone in from the outside," said Buchanan, who expressed his appreciation to commissioners for the confidence they showed in him. "I just happened to be off and not employed during that time."

Buchanan said when a resolution was passed stating Denton would remain county manager through June 29, commissioners felt they would have a permanent county manager in place by then. The death of a member of the search committee delayed the process, he said.

"Everyone was under the assumption (Denton) would be asked to stay on," Buchanan said. "We begged him to stay Friday, and he flat out told us no," Burrell said. "I'm sorry he did." Denton said he didn't remember anyone "begging" him to stay although Buchanan asked in the closed session that he continue as manager.

"The other commissioners had drawn a line in the sand," Denton said of the June 29 date. "After that I would have been a lame duck county manager."

Prior to being elected board chairman and taking on the county manager duties, Denton was a biology teacher at Smoky Mountain High School.

"I don't have any employment plans," Denton said. "I'm going to start looking."

Westmoreland has served as president of the Greater Greer Development Corp. since January 2000. Prior to that he was employed as Spartanburg County administrator from 1980 until 1990 and Greer city administrator from 1990 until taking the development job. He will be paid $78,234 and will receive the same benefit package as other county employees and will not receive any compensation for his moving expenses, said Buchanan. Westmoreland will work at the pleasure of the board.

"I'm very excited," Westmoreland said of his upcoming move to Jackson County. "Both my wife and I are anxious to get up there."

The fact that he was confirmed by a split vote of the commissioners is not a concern, Westmoreland said.

"I understand the vote was philosophical, not personal," he said. "I understand the dramatic change that's taken place. "I'm more interested in the issues and professional challenges facing Jackson County and the region."

Westmoreland said he became familiar with Jackson County while his oldest son was a student at Western Carolina University. He and his family have also visited this area frequently to take advantage of opportunities for hiking and outdoor recreation. He and his wife, Betty, have three children. Their youngest, Kyle, is a junior at Brevard College.

The 56-year-old Westmoreland received a bachelor of arts degree in international studies from the University of South Carolina in 1970 and a master of public administration degree from USC in 1972.

Westmoreland had become the choice of a majority of board members before Hal Mason, Shelby's assistant city manager, withdrew from consideration, Buchanan said. The other candidate recommended by a search committee, Chris Raths of Massachusetts, took a job in Kentucky and was not interviewed. Preliminary talks with Raths indicated the parties were not in the same ballpark regarding financial compensation, Buchanan said.

"We checked (Westmoreland) out every way we could," Burrell said. "I feel like he'll be a good person for the county. It's time to move on and get behind this fellow."

In naming a professional county manager, Jackson County joins North Carolina's other 99 counties and officially installs a new form of government. Until June 30, the form of government allowed for the elected chairman of the board to also serve as county manager.

That dual role was fulfilled by Denton since he was elected chairman in November 1998. According to the December resolution that changed Jackson County's form of government, Denton agreed to remain county manager until June 29.

In a statement at the June 29 meeting, Denton announced his regret at stepping down as county manager.

"On Nov. 29, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution to change the form of government of Jackson County to the county-manager plan of government pursuant to G.S. 153A-81, to become effective Jan. 1, 2001," Denton said.

"At that meeting, I asked the Board to allow me to serve my term as manager. I wished to fulfill my term as the manager fulfilling my promise to the people when I ran for this office in 1998," he continued.

"To this day, I still believe that the elected chairman-manager position is a superior form of government for the people of Jackson County. I will never forget the night we were sworn in as commissioners and received a standing ovation from a packed courtroom when we gave county government back to its citizens with the return of the chairman-manager form of government. Since then Jackson County has been managed effectively and efficiently with many accomplishments and advancements in governmental operations," Denton said.

Among the accomplishments he listed were development and implementation of a $32.4 million capital improvements program that includes a new jail and sheriff's office; county technology improvements; preparation of three budgets; direction of the development of a construction and demolition transfer station; institution of monthly departmental meetings; and preparation of a balanced 2001-02 budget while dealing with state revenue shortfalls.

Denton thanked the citizens of Jackson County for allowing him to serve and pledged to continue to "work hard as chairman of the Board to implement policies and programs to improve the county and protect the citizens."

In a November referendum, 62 percent of voters supported the move to an appointed county manager.

"We're doing what the people asked us to do," Burrell said.

Despite the outcome of the referendum, Denton remained steadfast in his stance that the county is best served by an elected county manager.

"I still believe in the system we had," Denton said. "Mr. Westmoreland told us during the interview process that the form of government we had was better than the appointed county manager form."

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