By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
HAMLET — Update 10:38 a.m. – The first candidate for the position of city manager exited the council chamber at 10:35 a.m. The interview with acting City Manager Tammy Kirkley, Mayor Bill Bayless and all five members of the City Council lasted approximately 82 minutes.
The candidate introduced himself to two city of Hamlet employees before leaving City Hall.
Update 10:58 a.m.: City officials have recessed the session until 1 p.m. today. Bayless said the plan was to interview four candidates today but one person was unable to meet his appointment.
Bayless said council members worked to put the 33 candidates into four separate piles. The four interviews scheduled for today were of “the top four, as of right now, based on paperwork.”
The next step in the selection process would be to conduct background checks on those top candidates.
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And then there were?
Mayor Bill Bayless and all five members of the Hamlet City Council — Pat Preslar, Tony Clewis, Johnathan Buie, Jessie McQueen and Eddie Martin are meeting this Monday morning began the interview process of an unknown number of candidates for the position of city manager. On Sept. 8, Human Resources Director Edna Cumberland reported there were 31 applicants for the position. At the following night’s City Council meeting, that number increased to 33.
Prior to the start of the meeting, council members informally discussed their thoughts and concerns about the proposed sales use tax supported by the city of Rockingham and the Board of County Commissioners. They also noted that gates for the 57th annual Richmond County Agricultural Fair will open at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
At 9:08 a.m., Bayless called the special meeting, announced last week, to order and quickly entertained a motion to go into executive session. At 9:13 a.m., Bayless walked the first candidate from the administrative offices and through the front lobby of City Hall to the council’s meeting chamber.
Unlike a formal City Council meeting, the room is set up for a more informal, intimate affair. Acting City Manager Tammy Kirkley is joined by Preslar, Bayless and Buie one on end of the L-shaped configuration with McQueen, Martin and Clewis on the other end.
As the bottom of the triangle, each candidate for the position, vacated in August by Marchell Adams-David, is to sit and face a line of questions from all seven city officials.
City officials have not set a public timetable on which to select a new city manager. However, the successful candidate will be able to make quite an immediate impact on the city’s future as he or she will play a significant role in the appointment of a chief of police, a director for the Hamlet Depot and Museum as well as a new parks and recreation director.
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