Resident asks Durham commissioners for transparency over county manager leave; board declines comment and approves pulled item

Amanda Wallace, founder of Operation Stop CPS, told the board she was seeking clarity about the county manager's absence after a closed session on Sept. 9 and asked whether the manager had been suspended. "My name is Amanda Wallace. I'm the founder of Operation Stop CPS," she said during the public comment period on the pulled consent item. Wallace pressed for transparency: she said community members were hearing that the manager had been suspended and asked whether the leave was tied to wrongdoing.

The clerk responded that the board would not comment because the matter is a personnel item. "The board is not gonna be making any comments on that material as it's a personnel item," the clerk said. After public comment, the board voted to approve item 24-0602; the clerk recorded that the item "is passed unanimously." The board then voted to go into closed session to consider qualifications, performance or complaints against a public officer or employee and cited a statutory provision in the record (verbatim in the transcript as "general statute 140 three-318.11A6"). The motion to enter closed session was moved and seconded and carried.