The Nov. 13 Macon County Board of Commissioners meeting included a discussion about the process to replace retiring DSS Director Patrick Betancourt.
Betancourt plans to retire from the Department of Social Services in May 2026. He told the commissioners that the DSS board plans to contract with Developmental Associates LLC to identify candidates for his replacement. The commissioners were not required to vote on the proposal.
The company specializes in recruiting and assessing leadership for local government and was responsible for Betancourt’s recruitment 10 years ago. Betancourt said the DSS board has not used the company to make any hires since his and the current board has not worked with the company.
Betancourt said he began discussing and preparing for his retirement with the DSS board in January to account for “significant turnover in leadership” caused by several department staff members retiring at around the same time.
“After 30 years of dedicated service in both local and state government, I am ready for the next phase of my adventure,” he said in a statement to The Franklin Press. “It has been my true honor and privilege to serve alongside such an exceptional team of amazing and dedicated employees and a supportive board. The decision to retire comes with deep appreciation for the opportunities I’ve been afforded in partnering to promote, protect, and strengthen our community and to help make a meaningful difference in improving the well-being of Macon County’s citizens and of those across Western North Carolina.”
At the Thursday meeting, Betancourt said DSS set aside funding to contract Developmental Associates, which will cost a total of $24,500 (plus optional expenses), though he said Social Services is often reimbursed on its contracts by roughly 50% due to multiple sources of income coming from the local, state and federal levels. He said the expense was justified by the scope of services provided by the company and wants to have the services engaged as quickly as possible so as to have a new director named by February 2026 so the directors can overlap for a few months.
“It goes way beyond just an interview with an individual, it goes very in-depth into both hard and soft skill analysis. Does this person understand what it takes to develop a budget? Do they understand what it means to present a budget? Do they have the ability to come up here and present a budget to you guys?” Betancourt said. “It also incorporates that local stakeholder input, so it’s not just one or two people in Macon County making this determination. The assessment process actually looks at engaging several folks … making sure that folks in the community have input into the assessment process to get a chance to kind of say what’s important.”
Commissioner John Shearl raised concerns over the expense of the contract, saying the county should use its own human resources department and director to select a successor; he cited the Health Department’s recent search for a new health director. He said the health board formed a committee to conduct interviews for candidates with the assistance and direction of H.R. Director Tammy Keezer. In addition to being both the H.R. and safety director, Keezer is currently serving as the interim health director.
“Ultimately, the county taxpayers have the upper hand on who and when we spend money and it is wrong, Patrick, to have money spent in this county that we don’t have to spend.” Shearl said. “I understand you can hire professionals, agencies and everything else, but at least the DSS board ought to be willing to give us a chance to do this with their help, with your guidance, with HR, with the county manager … we have to save money every chance we get and this is one of those opportunities.”
Betancourt agreed the county should work to save money when possible but argued hiring the service would enable that goal, saying, “When hiring mistakes are made, they can be incredibly costly. I think you can look down the road and look in Cherokee County, where they were required to raise their millage rate by 11 cents to cover a $27.25 million lawsuit … a large part of why they had to pay that out was they made a wrong hiring decision based on the experience of an individual.”
Betancourt agreed to carry Shearl’s suggestion to the DSS board.
In a separate statement to the Press, Betancourt said, “It is not simply about filling a vacancy, it’s about securing the stability of the programs that protect children, support families and safeguard adults. The investment today will pay dividends many times its value in community trust, financial stability for the agency and strongly led services.”