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Sylva officials to delay town manager choice until after Tuesday's election

By Lynn Hotaling
Sylva leaders have put their quest for a town manager on hold until after next week's election. "We're waiting until after the election because whoever is on the board needs to have input into the selection of a manager," said Mayor Brenda Oliver Monday.

Members of the Sylva Town Board Sept. 6 identified seven finalists for the position. Though the mayor declined to release any names at that time, she did say that all are men and two are from Jackson County. Oliver said Monday that one finalist dropped out because the salary was too low.

The mayor notified the six finalists of their status and told them no interviews would be held until after after the Nov. 6 town elections.

"If a majority (of the town board) is still in favor of a manager after the election, interviews will be set up," Oliver said.

Both Tommy Thompson, Sylva's town clerk, and Richard McHargue, director of Sylva Partners in Renewal, told The Herald that they are among the finalists.

Town leaders June 7 amended the town's charter to provide for a council-manager form of government. A portion of the manager's projected $40,000 annual salary is included in the current fiscal year's budget.

Sylva historically has had the mayor-council form of government; a study by a governmental consultant almost two years ago recommended a change to a professional manager.

The idea for a city manager first surfaced in a November 1999 report prepared by municipal evaluator John Maxwell of Municipal Advisors Inc. of Virginia Beach, Va., and was one of the main recommendations of the report. Maxwell favored the change, he said, because Sylva's current organization does not clearly delineate who has decision-making authority.

Another option presented by Maxwell, to formalize the role to 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 almost like a manager in that the person in the job 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.

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