Sam Pattillo and Regina Mathis take notes during the town board meeting Monday.
Not every leadership transition smooth but Bryson City Town Board of Aldermen are confident in this will be. Current town manager Regina Mathis turned in her resignation Jan. 10 and will be leaving the position Feb. 17. On Monday evening, Feb. 6, the town board of aldermen unanimously hired Sam Pattillo as the next manager. He started work earlier that day, in fact.
“I’ve known him for 50 years, so I don’t have a lot of questions for him,” said Mayor Tom Sutton of Pattillo. On hiring him to begin Monday, Sutton said, “We’re on a ticking clock with Regina leaving us a week from Friday. I knew the board would be included to approve it.”
Mathis has worked in her role since March 1, 2018 and will be leaving to take a position with League of Municipalities where she will work with local governments in Western North Carolina on the implementation of ARPA funds, she said.
The board met in executive session and considered two other candidates during its meeting Jan. 23. Sutton said, however, each candidate ended up backing out due to family reasons. Pattillo became a candidate just last week, but with his local record in successful leadership, he became a shoe-in.
Pattillo is a familiar face in Swain County. He was the Superintendent of Swain County Schools from 2013-2017, where he implemented a five-year plan for promoting leadership in the school system for teachers and students introducing the Stephen Covey leadership program and the 7 habits. His 33-year career with the school system included serving as principal at West Elementary, as a social studies science teacher at the middle school and as head coach for the high school football team. Since leaving Swain, he spent several years working with North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.
The annual starting salary for Pattillo is $80,000.
“We’re very happy to have Sam,” Sutton said after the meeting. “He’s a huge positive reputation in this town and county. He has a lot of experience; he knows lots of people and how things work here.”
Patillo said he’s looking forward to the role that he was already digging into full speed ahead.
“I am looking forward to being a part of Bryson City government,” he said after the meeting. “They have been very progressive over the past serval years. I feel honored to be able to serve and serve the people. I look at it as a great opportunity to try to be helpful.”
Other town business
In other actions Monday, the town aldermen accepted budget modification 1 for the 2022-2023 fiscal budget in the amount of $324,150 in the general fund and $190,000 in the water and sewer fund. Among the general budget expenses were:
· $25,000 was added to administration for software, computers and office equipment
· $6,000 for the fire department
· $100,170 in public lands to pay Mountain True as part of the town’s commitment for a grant for erosion remediation at Island Park
· $5,000 for additional insurance expenses.
Water and sewer includes:
· $1,850 for Governors Island
· $183,150 for collection/distribution
· $5,000 for non-departmental.
Fats, oils and grease ordinance
Also Monday, town attorney Fred Moody said he had given the fats, oils and grease a final purview and that it was ready for board approval. A short discussion followed as to the need for a public hearing. Moody was of the opinion the board could hold off on a public hearing until its entire package of ordinance changes were ready.
Mayor Sutton said they didn’t want to push it too far back. Mayor Protem Ben King said he wanted more transparency given the need for compliance from local businesses.
“I’m afraid we’re going to be having these conversations and people are going to be thinking, Where did this come from, and we didn’t get a voice/’” he said.
The board and attorney agreed the best approach would be to bundle several ordinances at once and hold a public hearing prior to adoption.
“I would hate to see us start enforcing it before that,” King added.
The board also unanimously approved:
· Semi-annual compliance report prepared by McGill & Associates for the CDBG grant.
· Conflict of interest, records retention and civil rights policies
· The 2023-2024 proposed budget schedule
· Water leak relief at 551 Black Hill Road and 55 Main Street
· Sewer taps at 33, 65 and 71 Patterson Avenue.
· reports as presented
· Set the workshop meeting for Tuesday, Feb. 21.