Siler City commissioners

Board debates planning and community development department split

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SILER CITY — An October vote regarding splitting the town’s Planning and Community Development Department sparked a debate Monday about the wisdom and timing of the decision.

In the first October commissioners meeting, the board voted to approve a policy change dividing the Planning and Community Development Department into two entities. Under the policy change, current department head Jack Meadows would serve as the community development director, and Town Manager Hank Raper would take the lead in finding someone to fill the planning director position.

Mayor Chip Price, however, said that residents have since expressed concerns to him about the split. And on Monday, he indicated some commissioners had different interpretations of how the split would impact town services — saying that, because of that, there shouldn’t have been a vote in the first place.

“I think we need to admit that we rushed to judgment on this,” Price said. “There’s other ways this could be handled, and all we got was one thing. That’s all we had to go on.”

Raper told commissioners that interviews had already been conducted with two “exceptionally qualified” candidates for the planning director position. Price, though, said he wanted to pause on the split now because he felt the process wasn’t fair to Meadows or residents.

“I don’t see anything wrong with getting him (Meadows) help, but I don’t think we gave him any help,” Price said. “We just pushed him over to the side, so I’m not happy with this.”

Not all commissioners agreed, though.

Commissioner At-Large Cindy Bray sparred verbally with Price about the issue, claiming she wasn’t one of the commissioners he contacted regarding the department split. She said not only did Price not contact her, she hadn’t gotten complaints from constituents or town employees.

“I’m the longest-serving member on this board, and they haven’t said anything to me,” Bray said.

Price refuted Bray, saying as mayor he should be the first to know when things are going on.

“We all are talking about the chain of command, who do you think ought to be the first person to hear about something like this?” Price asked. “You know where I was, number four or five.”

In North Carolina, mayors have limited power. According to N.C. G.S. 160A-67 and G.S. 160A-69, municipal mayors have three main duties: follow the role as stated by law, serve as the official head of the town for ceremonial and civil purposes and preside over meetings. The mayor of Siler City doesn’t have a vote on the board unless there is a tie among commissioners.

According to the same statute, the town manager serves as the chief administrator of the town and is allowed to follow through with many decisions without say from the board or mayor. This includes the ability to “direct and supervise the administration of all departments, offices, and agencies of the city,” as well as appointing or suspending “all city officers and employees not elected by the people, and whose appointment or removal is not otherwise provided for by law.”

Bray said Price didn’t have to be at the top of the “chain of command.” She said the board doesn’t have a say about where employees are placed within departments — that duty is left to the town manager.

“We hired him to make the right decisions and to do what’s right, and I think he’s been good for Siler City,” Bray said.

The board called a closed session to discuss the proposal made by Price, but ultimately agreed to continue with the department split process.

Reporter Taylor Heeden can be reached at theeden@chathamnr.com and on Twitter at @HeedenTaylor.