Franklin’s Town Council discussed the process for hiring a new town manager during its first annual budget meeting last week.
Town Manager Summer Woodard announced that she would be resigning to accept a position as city manager for the City of Reidsville. She will stay in town through June to help the council with the 2021-22 budget process, but replacing her is still expected to be a daunting task. Town officials have praised Woodard’s professionalism, commitment and strong relationship with town staff, and they think it will be difficult to replicate her performance.
“Somebody with her talents and qualifications, there’s always a market for somebody like that,” Vice Mayor Jack Horton said of Woodard’s new position. “I know she’ll do a perfect job and we’ll be proud of her, but we’ll hate to lose her.”
With Woodard’s final day set at June 7, the town has about a month and a half to choose a new manager. They’ll likely evaluate candidates from the North Carolina School of Government and the public administration programs at Western Carolina University and Appalachian State University. While the turnaround period has to be somewhat fast, Mayor Bob Scott expects that there will be no shortage of interested parties.
“As soon as this gets out in the morning, we will start hearing from people,” Scott said.
Whether or not to seek help from a private recruiting firm became a matter of debate at the meeting. While the council will have the final say on who gets the job, town management is a complex engagement involving big finances and big risks, so some firms specialize in putting on a rigorous culling process to weed out candidates who aren’t up to the task. Scott and some of the council members feel that the council is capable of choosing someone without third party assistance and worry about the cost of hiring a firm, which could run around $20,000. However, other council members think it would be reasonable to pay for the most thorough vetting process possible if it means ending up with the right candidate and avoiding costly mistakes.
“When you consider this being a percentage of that person’s salary, it may not be a whole lot of money,” council member Mike Lewis said.
Woodard will play a part in the hiring process and, as time permits, will help get her successor up to speed on the state of the town. However, she stressed the importance of the council members choosing someone who would work well to meet their needs rather than hers. She also cited her own hiring process in Reidsville and the thoroughness that a professional firm brings to the table.
“It is an intense process and something that I think [the council] should be aware of to find the best fit,” Woodard said.
Woodard will stay on in her current position until Monday, June 7 while she helps the town complete the budget process for the 2021-22 fiscal year. Her first day with the City of Reidsville will be Monday, June 14.