Robbins to Discuss Manager at Friday Meeting
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The Robbins town commissioners will hold a special called meeting at 6 p.m. Friday “to consider the town manager position.”
Unlike agendas for regular meetings of the board, there is no provision for “public address to the council” or “comments by commissioners.”
The departure of George Hayfield as town manager — under pressure from a new majority on the Town Board — has Robbins in a state of uncertainty, with Police Chief Jeff Sheffield trying to hold things together as best he can. He had been working double as he tries to fill a vacancy in his own department.
Last week, new Mayor Lonnie English called him to ask if he could act as manager in the meantime.
“I am stressed,” Sheffield said. “I am splitting duty right now. I told dispatch if they can’t get me on the radio, call my cellphone.”
He was at Town Hall preparing to tackle the manager’s work while — at the same time — on call as chief.
“I am in the town manager’s office trying to figure what in the world is going on,” Sheffield said. “Right now, I really don’t know what’s going on. I was called Friday after I got up. I was asked to fill in as interim until they could hire somebody.”
He has received no town manager training.
“I am just trying to keep things, everyday stuff, operations going on,” he said. “(Town employees) are comfortable with me going on. I just walked in here. I am going to have a meeting with them at 9 a.m. and just advise them we are going to work together.”
He said he doesn’t know if doing the town manager’s job will mean getting town manager pay.
“I hope they are going to compensate me; they better,” he said. “I am going to tell them real quickly they better pay me something. It’s like I told ’em: I am a law-enforcement officer. I will do what I can to help this town, because it’s my hometown; and I love it. I’ll do what I can to help. This hiring process needs to go ahead and start today, if you ask me.”
Sheffield said he doesn’t know which commissioners wanted to get rid of Hayfield or why.
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Sheffield said. “I thought he was doing his job, to be honest with you.”
Sheffield said he had stressed that his principal responsibility is public safety, not public administration.
“I was up front with them about that,” he said. “We are down one officer now, and we are in the process of trying to get a full-time officer hired. We are still in that process.”
Chelsea Thomas, the finance officer, said Robbins has an annual $45,000 salary appropriation for a manager in its budget. Hayfield’s conditional letter of resignation stipulated two months severance pay. No board action to amend the budget to provide for it could take place in the absence of a meeting.
Questions are floating as to whether — until there is some official action accepting his terms or to fire him — Hayfield remains manager or not, and whether Sheffield has legal authority to act as manager without board action.
Town Clerk Lisa Williams said they were waiting to hear from the UNC School of Government and the town attorney.
Board members could not be reached by telephone or did not return calls, or would make no comment. English told Hayfield Friday that the terms of his conditional resignation were acceptable. However, it would have to be voted on in a meeting.
“That’s exactly true,” English said.
While other towns — like Carthage — have designated someone as immediate interim successor to the manager in case of necessity, Robbins has not made such provision.
“I’ve got to read the book, but I think the board has to put — approve — someone in there for the time being,” English said. “I’ll have to go get the book, but I don’t remember that specifically in the ordinance.”
In early December, English took the new mayor class run by the N.C. League of Municipalities (NCLM) with instructors from the UNC School of Government in Chapel Hill. At that session, Vaughn M. Upshaw, UNC lecturer in public administration and government, strongly advised new mayors and commissioners not to fire town managers soon after taking office.
“To be honest with you, I heard that lady say those exact words in that training class,” he said. “Let me tell you one thing: I have been a manager for a long time. They could walk in and fire me today.”
According to Ellis Hankins, executive director of the NCLM, the league always gives that advice during its new mayor orientation sessions. Those sessions split into groups, with manager/council town officials meeting separately from those from mayor/council towns.
“The purpose is to give them some information and let them talk with each other about leading a town as mayor,” he said. “It is to give them some things they really, really need to know — like about the open meetings law and the public records statutes, town finances and other things.”
He said voters want their mayors to know all they can, so they can do the best job possible.
“Yes, we always do stress that the manager works for the elected officials,” Hankins said. “When new people get elected, if they don’t like what the manager did in the past, we always stress that it is only fair for the new elected officials to give him or her an opportunity to hear and learn what they see as priorities and what policies they want to put in place and to give that manager a fair opportunity to carry out the new policies — tell them what their expectations are, and meet with them about how it’s going — before they talk about firing the manager.”
English informed Hayfield on Friday that he could resign or be fired the morning after the first regular session of the Town Board since he and Kevin Stewart took office. Hayfield never had any opportunity to meet with either one about his performance at a meeting.
Contact John Chappell at jfchappell@gmail.com.
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Comments
bubbasmith 1 year, 4 months ago
Thank you Jeff Sheffield for all you do for Robbins. Hang in there.
difflook 1 year, 4 months ago
Good job Chief, You can do it!! "one for all and all for one"
riverrat 1 year, 4 months ago
This is a mess. Maybe the town council would back off of this firing decison when they meet Friday. Take some time to work through this - Mayor English would show himself to be a big person if he were to help the council re-think this.
ILoveMyDog 1 year, 4 months ago
Perhaps these officials - who were elected by the people to respresent the best interest of Robbins - should have thought this through before they threw down an ulimatum. They should have thought through what experience and knowledge would walk out the door without anyone being able to fill the gap. While Jeff is a fine man and I am grateful he is trying to make the best of this, it is not his job and this would have been entirely unnecessary if the Commissioners had not done something that will jeopardize the budding economic recovery in Robbins. This is the kind of rash behavior and backward thinking that brought Robbins to the sorry state it's in today. Cudos to Jeff. No re-election for the Commissioners.
bubbasmith 1 year, 4 months ago
This was what the majority of the citizens wanted and is the first move in the right direction. The Pilot is apparently blowing this way out of shape.
Satch2929 1 year, 4 months ago
The main responsibility of the interim town manager will be to lend his signature to authorize payments of invoices. It's a little overblown (intentionally by the Pilot) to state the Chief will be burdened with ALL the Town Manager duties.
mcguy1 1 year, 4 months ago
Majority of the citizens? I didn't realize there was any citizens at the meeting that stood up and voiced their opinion about Hayfield. Its more of the commissioners wanting this.
It is a sort of burden on the POLICE Chief. He is having to work shift to fill a vacancy within his own department.
difflook 1 year, 4 months ago
yes people have been voicing their opinion of a non seen leader, so be it if the commissioners wanted this, thats what they were elected to do, the best for Robbins!
hometown24 1 year, 4 months ago
I agree with Satch2929, I think that The Pilot has blown this out of proportion, which does not suprise me since the article was written by John Chappell. My perception of Steve Bouser's article on the opinion page was this: Commissioners not willing to talk to The Pilot, so trash them....George Haybale willing to talk, so praise him to no end, give him a crown, and place him on a throne!! Don't think Hayfield was all he was cracked up to be anyway, so kudos to the commissioners for what I consider to be a GREAT move!!
MooreNorth 1 year, 4 months ago
"Budding economic recovery in Robbins"? Now that's funny. This move was long overdue. Trying to survive on grant money has brought the town to the state it's in today. For the first time, in a long time, I have hope for my home town.
tarheelborn 1 year, 4 months ago
I'll bet there was nothing even said, about a "J/V Offer" made a Year Ago with the Town of Robbins. That is exactly why a Changing of the Guard was witnessed in the last election! Strange and Secret happenings have been going on with Moore County and Robbins and Scotland County.
As often stated, It shall ALL come out in the Wash, but there sure will be some Dirty Water!
Let's see if I can predict the outcome of Friday's meeting. County Manager Cary McSwain will come away with a deal to take the Town of Robbins to the Cleaners, like the Chicken Plant Closing, (Poor Judgment on elected officials part), but maybe not, WHO Gained from that deal? Moore County will TAKE Advantage of the Robbins Town Board this time too, because there are certain Elected Officials which will GAIN, at the expense of the poor citizens of Robbins ALL OVER AGAIN! If Moore County don't take Robbins to the cleaners, they have (Cary McSwain) and his COZY relationship with Laurinburg and Scotland County and the (Self Proclaimed Water Czar) and his (Cozy) relationship with the same and decide to enter into a relationship with "Da Burg" and Scotland County. You see, THEY BOTH have relationships down south too.... Didn't McSwain come from South Carolina? Well, let's see if a little research don't reveal some STRONG Contacts with certain Power Playing Officials "Down South" of us in Scotland County and South Carolina. As The People of MOORE County need to Examine where McSwain went to School. Then research if the "Engineering Study" which was most recently done for "Da Burg and Scotland County" was done. Then Connect the Dots and Follow the Money Trail, which Moore County will Ultimately pay for AND have been paying for ever since McSwain was hired, and even WHO was on the board when he was hired. This goes much deeper than our voting citizens realize! On another note. One might ask Where did the lady come from which was recently HIRED to Manage Moore County's MONEY? I'd be willing to bet, (if I were a betting person) she ALSO Came from South Carolina TOO! Moore County better WAKE UP before it's too late, and get rid of the very ones which control and direct our (FUTURE) DECADES if not the next CENTURY.
All we need to do is, some BASIC RESEARCH on the ones running things for Moore County and then connect them with the ones that want to HOOK into Moore County MONEY, because they have fallen on Hard Times. Everyone always wants to Capitalize off Pinehurst and Moore County! I say H*%@, NO!
More Later............
tarheelborn 1 year, 4 months ago
BTW. The Joint Venture, was NOT with Moore County, but with a Well Established Group with Great Resources, which would certainly pull Robbins out of their financial ruins. Funny how elections make such a huge difference.
jr27356 1 year, 4 months ago
The pilot only reports what they want to, I have yet to see anything on here about the shooting in Montgomery county a week ago, and this happend only about two miles across the county line !
difflook 1 year, 4 months ago
WOW!!! heard after the meeting former Elected official was blasting!! some of the current ones, Yep true colors come out!! all over a legally elected board, making a change in what they thought was right, evidently the New Mayor agrees, he was elected so evidently the people there wants to follow his direction for now, so why all the anger and ill will, Robbins is the loser while petty differences rule............................................
riverrat 1 year, 4 months ago
This is in support of the town manager. Seems that people with personal axes to grind have lots of negative opinions. Others of us have a different look to share! The Council voted tonight 3-2 for Mr. Hayfield to go. The room was crowded with supporters for him to stay. They included business owners, clergy, town employees, and others. The meeting lasted less than 15 minutes and there was no opportunity for public comment. Mr. Hayfield was a real part of this community. We will be hard pressed to find a qualified. hard working person like he is who also cares about the town like he does. This was a very unprofessional process by a new council - very sad for all.
difflook 1 year, 4 months ago
Do not agree with that post. People were told that there would be no comment or allowance of speaking. How can you be a serving leader while you are sequestered in your office? How can you expect for existing business to feel welcome here when many have never seen you? or you have never darken the door of their business? Change comes for many towns when new leadership is elected, by reading it appears they attempted to do what was determined that they wanted to in the least intrusive way possible, no matter if some or none agree their town will have to mo ve forward, you cannot do that by bickering, being angry, over not getting your way, If that is continued, then that would show that people involved are more interested in having their way than for the good of the entire town and its many citizens.