Sylva officials could name first-ever manager tonight

By Lynn Hotaling

Mayor Brenda Oliver said Monday that a decision on a town manager would probably be made during tonight's 7 p.m. session.

Board member Maurice Moody indicated the manager decision will be made tonight.

"As far as I know it will be, unless somebody's changed their mind," Moody said.

Board member Eldon Cabe also indicated that the decision would be made tonight.

Board members Audrey Tritt and Eldridge Painter were less certain about the timing of the manager selection. Tritt indicated it is "likely to happen" tonight, and Painter termed a manager decision a "possibility."

Board member Danny Allen could not be reached for comment.

Sylva leaders interviewed six finalists in late November. Two - Sylva town clerk Tommy Thompson and Richard McHargue, director of Sylva Partners in Renewal - are local. The identity of the other four has not been made public, though The Herald has learned that one is from Topsail Beach.

Oliver, Moody, Tritt, Cabe and Painter all declined to speculate on persistent rumors that Richard McHargue, director of Sylva Partners in Renewal, will be the board's choice.

"I don't know how the board will vote," said Mayor Oliver, who votes only in case of a tie.

"They've been saying (it would be McHargue) since we started (looking for a town manager)," Tritt said. "It's a difficlt decision."

"I can assure you of one thing, it's not a done deal," Painter said. "There are some awfully good candidates in this. It's going to be a hard decision whichever way it goes, and I have no idea how it will turn out."

Other talk around town indicates that if McHargue becomes town manager, SPIR will become part of town goverment. Both Moody and Tritt said they had heard talk about SPIR becoming a town department, but that the matter has not been discussed formally during a town board meeting; Painter said he had not heard that rumor.

Oliver, also a member of SPIR's board, said SPIR has been looking at ways to fund the organization's management, and that the possibility has been discussed at SPIR board meetings. However, merging SPIR with town government was not "one of the high options" that SPIR board members proposed.

The Nov. 6 town elections had slowed the manager selection process, Moody said.

"Had it not been for the election, we'd have made this decision back in the fall," Moody said.

In hindsight, Moody said, beginning the process of choosing a manager so close to a municipal election may have been an "oversight."

"I don't know if (the decision to hire a town manager) played any part in the election or not," Moody said.

Lynda Sossamon, who was an early advocate for a professional manager, was the only incumbent defeated in the November election. Moody, the top vote-getter in 1997, had the lowest total of the five successful candidates, though only 41 votes separated him from Cabe, who garnered the most votes in 2001. Sossamon finished 20 votes behind Moody.

It was initially announced that a manager would be named during a special meeting Dec. 3; however, that meeting was cancelled, and Mayor Brenda Oliver announced the decision would be postponed until January. The purpose for delaying the vote was to give the two new board members (Painter and Allen) time to study the matter, Moody said.

Closed-session interviews were conducted by Oliver, five town board members and two board members-elect in November. The mayor said Nov. 19 that while both current - Tritt, Moody, Cabe, Sossamon and Norma Lee - and new board members - Painter and Allen - would have input into the manager's selection, the five sitting board members would choose the manager Dec. 3.

That decision was changed during discussion Nov. 27. Painter and Allen replaced Sossamon and Lee, who did not seek a second term, during the board's Dec. 13 session. Painter said Monday that the delay had given him some "breathing room."

Town leaders June 7 amended Sylva's charter to provide for a council-manager form of government, and a portion of the manager's projected $40,000 annual salary was included in the current fiscal year's budget. A maintenance position was eliminated in order to include funding for about one-half of the manager's proposed salary.

Sylva has always operated under the mayor-council form of government; a study by a governmental consultant more than two years ago recommended a change to a professional manager.

Another option mentioned in that report - to formalize the role of the town clerk as town administrator - received little discussion by the board despite the fact that Sylva leaders for a number of years have allowed the clerk to function like a manager. The person in that job historically has had supervisory authority and responsibility for implementing decisions made by the board.

As Sylva's clerk, Thompson receives an annual salary of $40,295. The clerk's salary was frozen at that level in June when it was determined that the average town clerk in North Carolina is paid around $25,000 per year.

Tonight's meeting will be preceded by a 6:15 p.m. public hearing on a rezoning matter and a 6:30 p.m. public hearing on a taxicab application.

The rezoning request is from Darla Mathews. Mathews owns property on Fortune Lane that is currently zoned R-1, which allows only single-family homes. Mathews has requested her parcel be rezoned R-2, which allows duplexes and apartments. Her property contains a duplex and is located near several apartment complexes, said Jim Aust, Sylva zoning administrator.

The taxicab application is from Charles Allen, who has indicated he would like to begin operating a taxi within the town limits. Statutes require that all such applications receive approval from town board members.

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