After an extended closed session on Wednesday, Feb. 13 – that actually ran until 1 a.m. the following day – the Summerfield Town Council came into open session and voted 4-to-1 to give Summerfield Town Manager Scott Whitaker 60 days notice that his current contract would not be renewed.
There was a long pause and quite a bit of tension in the room before the motion was made and Whitaker was sitting right next to the town councilmembers when he got the news.
There was little discussion before the vote at about 1 a.m. and there was some ambiguity right afterward.
One councilmember spoke on how unfair the current contract was to the town and cited many conditions in the contract that he saw as problematic, while another mentioned the possibility of “renegotiating.”
However, many residents in Summerfield take the action as clear writing on the wall that Whitaker will not be the town manager at the end of his current contract – and some suggested, given the move by the council, that he may choose to leave soon no matter what the council has in mind.
Whitaker is making over $150,000 a year, and if fired without 60 day notice would get a full year’s salary along with other benefits such as comp pay.
Whitaker has been the town manager for over a decade and the new Town Council is a lot different than the one that initially granted Whitaker the contract. Many past town councils have been highly supportive of Whitaker through thick and thin. However, over the past year, there have been some tense moments at meetings between the current councilmembers and Whitaker.
Summerfield has faced a lot of major decision making in recent years – such as what to do regarding a large proposed development brought to the council by farmer and developer David Couch and whether or not to pursue a town water system.
Longtime residents say that 1 a.m. is the latest time a Town Council meeting has run in Summerfield’s history, however, one former councilmember said that a meeting in June of 2018 ran until 2 a.m.
Ahhh, yes, Summerfield, NC. The little smudge on the map that thinks they’re Charlotte or Raleigh. There are a lot of good folks there, but the clowns control the purse strings and the council. It’s funny to me to see towns that have little money, yet council members who work together flourish, and ones who have more money than sense often struggle to accomplish anything because of constant bickering, politics, pillow talk, strife & discord. Protect & preserve every acre of farm land. Take care of the town you have. Many folks don’t want to live elbow to elbow and have a Starbucks on every corner. There was a huge hog farm about 1/4 mile from where I grew up. We used to go there and buy meat often. It was devastating to see it sold & developed in the late 80’s. There are now hundreds of “starter homes” on that property, crime is more prevalent in the neighboring communities and traffic is hell. Quality of life went from an A+ to a C- overnight. Maybe Mr. Couch should visit there or any number of similar communities we’re all surrounded by nowadays.
Sad that Greensboro council doesn’t have the same backbone.
The comedian Ron White coined the phrase during one of his comedy routines “You can’t fix stupid.” Comedy routines are are often funny because they are based on truth. In this case, the truth is this councils decision is not funny, it’s a tragedy based on petty bickering by those controlling the council. Their promise during the latest campaign of transparency was just that, a broken promise. Good luck on replacing a tried, respected, credentialed town manager who worked for a salary below market value because of family and connections in the area.
Summerfield is a wonderful place to live, but our town has changed as has the perception of our town because of the actions of a few with loud and misguided motives. Our town because of our staff and volunteers has the largest fund balance of any town in the state. We have planned development and planned infrastructure admired by many. This council seemed determined to end all that and run staff off. Their actions are causing people to not consider public office and will surely complicate the tenuous situation we are now facing with a deannexation bill before the legislature. Ron White had it right. Hamilton, Clay, Devanney, Robinson, here’s your sign. Myself and three other mayors as well as former council members and responsible citizens who helped build Summerfied strongly disagree with your direction for this town.
You mean Tim Sessoms who has secret back room meetings with Couch and Mark Brown who sold his land to Couch under a disguised LLC and publicly supported Couch’s development plans for Summerfield? You yourself have defended Couch and favored his plans in the past and now you’re calling citizens stupid. Oh please. The old guard is feeling the power and protection provided by town hall slipping from their fingers and are lashing out. The manager has held his position for far too long and become too biased to be effective. He has wasted hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars with grandiose ideas that never come to fruition or in on budget. His recent behavior has shown his unwillingness to work effectively with the new council. It’s way past time for a change.
You are wrong in your assessment of Summerfield and Scott. Summerfield started the downhill slide when citizens made the horrible mistake to elect former mayor Gail Dunham who with her cohorts set out to destroy the town and have succeeded withe another incompetent town council withe the exception of John Doggett. The slide downward continues. Soon a lot of property in the town will be annexed because of teh actions of a few.
Time for Scott Whitaker to go. Let;s hope he got the message. Town finance officer will not disclose his pay and benefits but appears to be closer to $200,000 and council gave him the new white town truck for his use. Budget time May, year ago, council said purchase a new truck to retire the old green truck. Green truck is still at town hall, but snazzy white truck only there when Scott is there. Terrific and expensive perk.
John O’Day and Reece Walker few years ago amended Whitaker/manager original contract to award Whitaker one year pay if he was fired.
Terms of the contract Whitaker was told his contract will not be renewed (June, 2024, or agree to an earlier date.
Do not have his contract in hand — so others may have more to add.
As a longtime Summerfield resident, change is long overdue! For decades, a few people and families acted like they own the place and that rules don’t apply to them. Back room deals, family and friends on boards, wrongdoings, conflicts and doing whatever to help developer David Couch. Former mayors Brown and Barnes bent over backwards to help Couch build his apartment complexes and current mayor Sessoms secretly met with Couch last week. And Whitaker is in the thick of it all.
Whitaker made his bed by being a part of all the underhanded stuff. Finally we have people willing to act like grown-up leaders making grown-up decisions.
Well, once the property is de-annexed by the State due to decisions made and not made by the past and current majority of the council,the building can begin, apartments and all. Fortunately for Summerfield, David Couch only builds first class developments while preserving a lot of green space. The only way to stop growth is not to sell your farmland. Those who criticize Couch sure didn’t mind selling their land and smiling while taking their money to the bank.