March 29 - April 4, 2018
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Roles, expectations debated at training session Council, mayor, manager have second training session on March 17 to continue discussion of roles and expectations photo by Patti Stokes/NWO
Peg Carlson of the UNC School of Government provided a set of ground rules for participants in a March 17 training session
by PATTI STOKES SUMMERFIELD – Complete this sentence: “I expect all council members to…” That was the first exercise for Summerfield Town Council mem-
bers, Mayor Gail Dunham and Town Manager Scott Whitaker at a half-day training session on March 17. The session, held at Summerfield Community Center, was facilitated by Peg Carlson, director of UNC School of Government’s Center for Public Leadership and Governance. This was Carlson’s second trip to Summerfield to work with the group which has often been at odds in recent months.
IN THIS ISSUE Hearing postponed ..................... 3 Your Questions ............................. 4 Budget planning begins ............. 5 News in Brief ................................. 7 Business Notes ............................. 9 Youth Sync ................................. 10 Easter Egg Hunt ...........................11
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Mayor overstepped authority, councilman says Council member says Flynt should have followed rules, procedures by STEVE MANN STOKESDALE – During a 32-minute stretch where he said he felt his character was being impugned, Stokesdale Mayor John Flynt was criticized twice for actions he took without the authorization of the town council. Both were initiated by council member Bill Jones during the March 8 regular council meeting. Jones first accused Flynt and Mayor Pro Tem Thearon Hooks of removing employee personnel files
from the custody of former Town Administrator/Finance Officer Kim Hemric and removing them from Town Hall with the intention of putting them on a private computer in a private residence. (Hemric resigned March 9 and council voted to accept her resignation during an emergency meeting March 13). Jones also criticized Flynt for negotiating a citizen’s delinquent water bill, accepting a reduced settlement and approving the installation of a new water meter in violation of town policy. Jones said Flynt’s actions concern him. “The point I’m making is, you put (the water-bill negotiation) on top of the personnel thing you did without
any kind of town authority, the first thing you know we’re going to start looking like a Third World banana republic,” Jones said. “We got rules to follow. We have procedures to follow, and I’m going to follow them. I don’t care who’s in office.” Just minutes after the council voted to purchase a fireproof filing cabinet for the mayor’s office, Jones – reading from a prepared statement – said he had been told employee personnel files were removed from the former town clerk’s custody “by members of council acting in their own interests.” Jones cited portions of state statutes he said council leaders violated:
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photo by Kevin Spradlin/NWO
Community Calendar ................14 Grins & Gripes ............................ 16 Crime/Incident Report .............. 18 Letters/Opinions ........................ 18 Classifieds .................................. 19 Advertiser index ........................ 23