Ruralite Cafe: Published 07/12/01

By Lisa Majors-Duff News Editor

Denton has not 'gone to the house' completely

Each of these individuals, with the exception of Denton, was elected to both positions at the same time, a system of government unique in North Carolina to Jackson County for the last 150 years. Denton, on the other hand and for many complicated reasons, was elected to serve only as chairman and then named county manager by his fellow board members.

As of July 1, the positions of chairman of the board and county manager were divided. Denton remains the chairman of the board, while Ken Westmoreland will be brought in as county manager, a full-time job with a corner office on the second floor of the Justice Center.

What this boils down to is that a trained professional, as opposed to a politician, will be at the operational helm of Jackson County starting Aug. 1. The merits of one over the other have been debated here since the issue first came up in 1992, the year the people picked the politician (Wayne Hooper). The debate raged again in 1996 when the board of commissioners took it upon themselves to adopt the new system, a move that landed both the board and the opposition in a court battle for two years.

The latest debate over professional vs. political manager has gone on more quietly in smaller circles since the 2000 General Election, when a second vote on the issue reversed the 1992 outcome. A six-month search since then has led to the hiring of Westmoreland and the firing of Denton as manager.

Knowing and understanding this much-abbreviated history does not uncomplicate the county manager issue. Even so, some of us at the Cafe have been disturbed to realize lately that some of you in "Readerland" are under the impression that Jay Denton is no longer involved in county government, that he's "gone to the house," so to speak. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jay Denton was elected by the people of Jackson County to serve a four-year term as chairman of the board of commissioners. The recent change in county management style has not and will not affect Denton's duties as chairman.

One way to think of Denton's position now is to consider him the elected leader of Jackson County, much the same as the mayors are the elected leaders of their respective towns. This fact managed to escape a group of local mayors who felt the need recently to hold a closed-door session after the water and sewer authority asked for their help to change TWSA's bylaws. None of them, it seemed, wanted to make the first move, so they got together with the interim county manager - without asking Denton to attend - to see what the others thought.

Back in 1998, Denton changed careers within a matter of seconds after being named county manager - a position bestowed upon him by the current commissioners and taken away by the same group of folks. Jay went from a biology teacher at Smoky Mountain High to the day-to-day supervisor of more than 250 county employees. He went from dissecting frogs to dissecting a $35 million county budget. And he made it look easy.

Denton thrived as a county employee. He enjoyed the work, and regardless of not being a trained government official, he was good at it. When asked about his proudest moments as county manager, Denton talks first about the three balanced budgets he developed with assistance from finance officer Darlene Fox. "She worked out the details, but all the decisions were left up to me." He'll also tell you that it was his idea to implement regular department head meetings, a move that led to enhanced communications within county government. And Jackson County found its way into the 21st century under Denton's leadership.

"We went from 'dumb' terminals to PCs, and I arranged the training sessions for the county employees," he said recently.

Communication skills, fiscal responsibility and technological know-how are all qualities we should insist upon when it comes to our government leaders. Jackson County is a better place today because of these and many other attributes Denton brought to the Justice Center.

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