Mount Olive Commissioner Delreese Simmons, right, attempts to block Commissioner Danny Keel, center, from voting Thursday on a proposed contract with the Eastern Carolina Council to conduct a search for a new town manager. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
After a relatively orderly start Thursday night, the reconvened Mount Olive Town Board meeting quickly deteriorated into what has almost become a routine of contentiousness — this one marked by accusations of conflict of interest and lying.
The board took about 30 minutes to move through the three-item agenda, all of which had been carried over from the Monday night session.
It was moved along somewhat by board members calling the question after the motions were made.
The votes:
• approved a contract with the Eastern Carolina Council to help the town find a new town manager;
• authorized Town Attorney Carroll Turner and Interim Town Manager Glenn Holland to seek a forensic auditor, as recommended by the State Bureau of Investigation, to aide in its probe of possible misconduct by two town employees;
• approved the facility encroachment agreement between the town and CSX Transportation for the sewer collection rehabilitation project.
Commissioner Tommy Brown made the motion to approve the manager search contract. It was seconded by Commissioner Danny Keel and approved 4-1, with board colleague Delreese Simmons voting no.
As soon as Mayor Jerome Newton asked for comment — and just prior to the vote — Simmons said the town needs a manager, but challenged Keel’s eligibility to vote since he serves on the Eastern Carolina Council board.
“I don’t believe that Danny should be allowed to vote because he is on that entity’s board, and he can be persuaded, or he can persuade, our next town manager,” Simmons said. “It is a conflict of interest.”
Turner was asked to address the issue.
“Mr. Mayor (it) is not a close call,” he said. “It has got to be a direct financial interest. Reading from NCGS 138A-36, ‘it must be a reasonably foreseeable financial benefit for the board member not to able to participate.’ There is no conflict of interest.
“Commissioner Keel will not receive any compensation or benefit as the result of voting for the contract to seek a manager. Just because somebody thinks there is a conflict does not mean there is one,” the attorney noted.
To illustrate how a conflict of interest might happen, Turner said he was going to pick on local realtor David Kornegay, who was in the audience.
Just say that Kornegay, who is a developer, was on the board and had some property he wanted to develop that needed to be rezoned, and asked for the rezoning, Turner explained.
“If he participates in that vote, that’s a direct benefit to him, and is a conflict of interest — not this,” Turner continued. “This is just getting the Eastern Carolina Council to help us screen candidates.
“Anything they get will come back to this board and everybody will have an opportunity to review it.”
Commissioner Barbara Kornegay called for the question to end the discussion.
“We have a motion on the floor,” she said. “I call the question.”
Mount Olive has been without a full-time town manager since Jan. 13 when the board voted 3-2 to fire then-manager Jammie Royall, who had served in that role since 2020.
Kornegay, Brown and Keel voted to fire Royall. Commissioners Vicky Darden and Simmons voted against the firing.
The termination followed a closed session to discuss the competence, performance and/or fitness of an employee.
Long-time town employee Glenn Holland, superintendent of utilities, has been named interim manager.
Carolina Council Executive Director David Bone told the board Monday the Council supports nine counties and 62 municipalities within its jurisdiction. He said the Council provides a number of services, including administration services such as manager searches, planning and technical assistance and is the home for the area services on aging that provides funding and oversight of aging services in the nine-county region.
The proposal was to hire the organization to prepare, advertise and help with the town manager search.
The cost would be up to $5,000, and up to $1,000 for regional travel and reimbursements, he said.
Anything additional would be pre-approved with the town, Bone added.
CSX Agreement
The facility encroachment agreement between the town and CSX Transportation is for the work to reduce inflow and infiltration of water into the town sewer system.
“We have to have the in place so that we can actually move forward with the project,” Holland said. Initially there had been concerns about some of the wording, but it has been clarified and everything appears to be in order, he added.
“I think we need to move forward with this so we won’t hold up the project,” Holland said.
Simmons wanted to know the project cost.
The cost is $5,100, but is covered in the grant the town was awarded for the work, Turner responded.
Simmons also asked where the project would take place.
The work will be at Park Avenue, Jurney and Tillman streets, in the North Center Street area, Holland said.
Kornegay made the motion to approve the agreement, seconded by Keel. It, too, passed 5-0, even though Simmons did not appear to respond so he was counted as a yes vote.
Forensic auditor
The SBI recommended hiring the forensic auditor.
Simmons asked Turner if it was the first SBI investigation in the town.
“Going back how many years?” Turner responded.
Simmons also questioned how the employees’ names got into the paper and who released them.
“What you are asking has absolutely nothing to do with what…” Turner started before Simmons talked over him, asking again how the names got into the paper.
“Well, I reckon it might be because that is what the law requires,” Turner said. “The personnel privacy act requires that upon request that we provide — I am looking at it right here, NCGS 160A-168 — the employee’s name, age, date of original employment, current position, title and current salary.
“That had to be released. Quite frankly, I didn’t want it released and initially refused to release it until the Goldsboro News-Argus almost threatened to sue us over it.”
Turner said the main reason he was concerned about releasing the names was that he did not know if it would, in any way, impair the SBI investigation. The attorney added that he contacted the SBI and was told releasing the information would not impair the probe so he released the information.
“So their names were released because N.C. General statutes, which I read,” Simmons said. “So it is public information?”
There was another investigation a few years back on another town employee, he added, asking Turner if he could release that person’s name since it was public information.
Turner began to answer but was interrupted again by Simmons.
“Do you want me to answer the question, or do you want to,” Turner asked as Simmons kept talking.
Newton tried to restore order saying the board needed to move on and “no contention here.”
“Question and answer that is all that we are going to do,” he said. “We are not attacking anyone today. We are not doing that.”
Simmons, however, continued to press for a name.
“Commissioner Simmons in this (current) case, I knew what was happening,” Turner said. “In the case you are making reference to, and if it will make you feel better, I will tell you it was (former police officer) Linda Tyson. I think that is who you are making reference to.
“But I am going to clear the air on that since you are bringing it up. I knew nothing about that investigation, absolutely nothing. I believe the police chief did. The only point I knew about it was when I was told that the matter had been completed and referred to the district attorney’s office, and they made the decision not to prosecute because of no evidence.”
Again, Simmons interrupted and Newton banged his gavel, but to no avail.
“We have got to move forward,” Newton said again.
“Thank you, it was a police officer,” Simmons started again.
Newton asked for a motion. It was made by Brown and seconded by Keel.
“Call the question,” Kornegay said.
The motion was approved 5-0 even though Simmons appeared to fail to respond, and as such was counted as a yes vote.
Following the adjournment, audience members continued to talk including former commissioner Jack Faison.
Faison spoke of prior incidents in town where people had done stuff, but were not charged.
“So why are we trying to prosecute the young ladies,” he said. “It is a bunch of junk.”
His comments were greeted with applause.
“I am going to tell you why that chief, not chief, that captain wasn’t went after because they said it was going to be a bad spot on the town of Mount Olive,” Simmons said. “It was going to make the town of Mount Olive look bad. That’s why.
“He said, Carroll Turner said, he didn’t know nothing about it. That’s a lie.”
“I don’t appreciate…,” Turner started only to be interrupted by Simmons saying, “I don’t care.”
Turner repeated he did not know about the case until he was told it had been sent to the district attorney.
“Meeting is over. Meeting is adjourned,” Newton said as he tried again to regain control.
