The Pender County Commission voted Nov. 25 to approve a contract for "Mr. Sawyer" to become county manager after a closed-session discussion on a personnel matter. Recorded votes showed two commissioners in favor and one opposed; the chair declared the motion passed.

The decision followed a brief procedural exchange about whether the board needed to read the statutory language authorizing a closed session; county counsel advised it was appropriate to reference the statute without reading it in full. The board then met in closed session to discuss personnel. After returning to open session, Commissioner Speaker 2 moved to approve the manager contract with the verbiage discussed in closed session; the motion was seconded and put to a vote.

A central point of contention was the candidate's experience. Dr. Tate (identified in the transcript as 'Doctor Tate') made an extended statement opposing the contract, saying the candidate lacked prior experience in county management or assistant county manager roles, had limited supervision experience relative to the county's roughly 560 employees (which, he noted, could expand by about 200 in a pending merger), and lacked experience with large, complex budgets and with school-system budget collaboration. Tate also flagged the candidate's limited economic development and water/sewer infrastructure experience and said the compensation and contract terms raised concerns. He told the board: "I cannot vote for this contract."

Supporters said the board had carefully followed a multi-month recruitment process with a professional firm, and that the contract was intended to provide stability at the top of county government. The motion's mover asked critics to specify which qualifications they would require and argued the candidate would benefit from existing county mentors and department leadership. In the discussion, the mover said the county needed to "start from the top, and we have to provide some type of stability."

Contract details referenced during the meeting included a salary figure cited in the transcript as $175,000 and a 12-month contract term; the transcript also mentions a two-year service/severance package described as totaling approximately $350,000 (noted in the record as "without benefits"). The board instructed staff and counsel to ensure the contract language incorporated the county personnel policy, with the contract controlling in any conflict.

After the vote the chair outlined the recruitment process, welcomed "Mr. Sawyer" to Pender County, and urged department heads to support his success. Commissioners also asked staff to notify county employees internally about the hire after acknowledging that information had already appeared in local media or social channels; the county attorney confirmed on the record that no manager had been hired before the vote.

The meeting closed with a motion to adjourn.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve county manager contract (as amended to reflect personnel-policy language): passed. Recorded vote: Speaker 1, yes; Speaker 2, yes; Doctor Tate, no. The transcript does not record other commissioners' votes in the open record provided here.

What remains unclear

The transcript contains some numeric and phrasing errors (for example, one speaker refers to a prior department budget figure and an unintelligible numeric token). Where the record was unclear, this article reports the numbers as they were stated in the meeting rather than correcting them to external sources.

Next steps

The board signaled staff would circulate an internal announcement to employees and proceed with contract finalization consistent with the amendments discussed in closed session.