After almost seven months without a city manager, the Durham City Council is slated to pick a permanent one today.
The finalists for the position are Patrick Baker, Charles Penny and David Thompson. Many Durham residents came to listen to the three candidates answer questions posed by Mayor Bill Bell at a public meet-and-greet last night.
The search for a new manager began when Durham’s previous city manager, Marcia Conner, came under attack from City Council members and citizens; the criticism forced her to resign in July.
The city manager—the highest ranking appointed official in the city government—oversees the day-to-day operations of Durham, including the City Council’s agenda and the implementation of its policies and ordinances. Other responsibilities include managing city department directors and creating the annual budget.
“The city manager is kind of like the president and CEO of a corporation,” Bell said. “The city manager reports to the City Council. The City Council sets policy; the city manager carries out those policies.”
Baker, the current interim city manager, worked as an assistant city attorney before replacing Conner. After taking over as city manager, one of his first projects was the Code Enforcement Nuisance Abatement Team, which minimized city code violations in neighborhoods. Baker said that serving as the interim city manager has “truly been an honor and a privilege.”
Penny is the assistant manager of Rocky Mount, N.C. and a former assistant city manager of Asheville, N.C. He was a finalist for the position in March 2001, when the council appointed Conner. Penny calls Durham his “second home” and urged the media—which has recently exposed several scandals in Durham politics—to print more stories about positive happenings in the Durham community.
Thompson served as Durham county manager from 1996 until March 2000. He said he believes he will successfully piece together the city budget because of his experience working with budgets in his current job at an agriculture and engineering consulting firm. He relayed his message that public service is a “sacred trust” that he does not take lightly and that fiscal responsibility should be a priority for the city of Durham.
Sandra Battle, a former communications liaison at Duke, was one of the citizens who came Thursday night to hear what the candidates had to say.
Battle said she wanted someone to assume the city manager position who would “come in and restructure” and be a motivating leader to other city employees.
Charlotte Woods, the founder of Concerned Citizens for Accountable Government, a North Carolina-based advocacy group, echoed the feelings of many people involved in Durham politics.
“I just hope that whatever choice the council makes, that the result will be that we can turn a new page in Durham,” Wood said.
Woods also criticized Conner, who members of the City Council pressured to resign after reports of her awarding municipal contracts to friends, financial problems in the housing department and unsuccessful police chief searches.
“She treated many of the people that she worked with very disrespectfully,” Woods said. “The morale down at City Hall was very, very low. Now, with her gone... people are smiling.”
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