Sylva leaders to explore hiring town manager

By Lynn Hotaling

Though it hasn't been discussed by the town's entire board since February 2000, hiring a city manager seems to have the approval of the board's three-member personnel committee, according to Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver and board members Lynda Sossamon, Maurice Moody and Audrey Tritt.

It is likely that a recommendation to study the feasibility of hiring a manager will be presented during the full board's next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, May 3, at 7 p.m., said Mayor Oliver. That decision was reached during a personnel committee meeting held April 17.

"It was the feeling of the committee that we recommend the board consider a town manager and explore that possibility with the finance committee," Oliver said.

"Apparently we all think it's a good idea," Tritt said of the committee's April 17 discussion.

"We talked about the possibility of a city manager and the procedures to follow," said Sossamon, who chairs the town's personnel committee. "The town and budget are getting bigger, and therešs nobody to do what needs to be done every day. The Maxwell study recommended hiring a manager."

"I've just about come to the conclusion that we can't afford not to have one," Moody said. "We need a manager who would aggressively implement policies passed by the town board. Our current ordinances don't spell out whose responsibility certain things are."

Employing a town manager was first suggested in October 1999 by municipal evaluator John Maxwell, who was hired by the town board to complete an organizational study of Sylva's government. Hiring a manager was one of the report's main recommendations and was based on Maxwell's conclusion that the town's current organization does not clearly delineate where administrative authority and decision-making rests.

None of Sylva's elected officials, including the mayor, serve the town full-time. The only full-time administrator currently employed is Tommy Thompson, town clerk, who has held that position for almost 13 years.

Hiring a manager would not mean the elimination of Thompson's job as town clerk, according to Mayor Oliver and committee members; Thompson declined to comment.

"We would retain the position of clerk and hire a manager," Oliver said."That does not preclude Tommy (Thompson) from applying depending on the qualifications the personnel committee lists as requirements."

The idea of a city manager was mentioned during a Monday (April 23) meeting of the town's finance committee, also comprised of Tritt, Sossamon and Moody. As they looked over the current year's expenses, Mayor Oliver commented that the administrative line item would have to be increased if a town manager is hired.

Sylva's leaders have for a number of years allowed the town clerk to function almost like a manager in that the person in the job has had supervisory authority over other employees and responsibility for implementing decisions of the town board.

"Practically, the town clerk has been the administrator, but evidently the charter doesn't say that," Moody said during board discussion last year.

Sylva presently has no provisions in its charter regarding the administrative authority of either the mayor or town clerk. The town's Code of Ordinances specifies a purely parliamentary role for the mayor, including calling meetings, presiding over meetings and maintaining order at such meetings as the mayor's sole duties.

Under the same Code, the town clerk is charged only with establishing bookkeeping procedures and negotiating with Jackson County and other county municipalities for financial support for the Sylva Fire Department.

Discussion a year ago included the possibility of the mayor becoming town administrator, either on a full- or part-time basis; however, no consensus was reached at that time, and no action was taken.

Talk of adding a town manager is proceeding despite Oliver's gloomy forecast for the town's finances during the upcoming budget year. She opened Monday's finance committee meeting by saying the town needed to start with a "bare-bones" budget and suggested they begin by eliminating raises and Christmas bonuses for town employees.

It was the committee's consensus not to fill a vacant maintenance position in order to shift that allocation to help fund a manager's position. As part of that discussion, it was determined that the town would discontinue its Streetscape maintenance contract with Randy Cabe; with proper scheduling, town maintenance workers can care for the pod plantings on Main Street, Oliver said.

"It's just a matter of reassigning and scheduling," she said.

All of Sylva's standing committees consist of three town board members. Because Sylva has a five-member town board, unanimous support by one committee in most cases translates to action in favor of the committee's proposal. Due to the fact that all town committee meetings include a majority of the board's members, all of their meetings are considered special board meetings under the terms of North Carolinašs Open Meetings Law, which stipulates that public bodies must give at least a 48-hour notice to all parties requesting it.

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