Emergency Meeting

I'm

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Call to order this emergency meeting of the Kerry Town Council. Purpose of this meeting is to give an oath of office to our deputy town manager, Russ Overden, who will be serving as K's interim town manager following this weekend's resignation of town manager Seansteagle. I want to point out that not all of my colleagues are here or could be here today due to previously scheduled time away. However, they are fully informed and supportive of Russ and our actions to make him our interim town manager. Before I give Russ the oath, I want to take a few minutes to speak to everyone about what's happened over the last several weeks regarding Shawn. First, a little background. In North Carolina, city and town council

appoint three staff members, the clerk, the attorney, and the manager. These three people report directly to council. All of the rest of the staff, which in Kerry is just over,300, work for and ultimately report to the town manager. As part of our supervisory responsibilities, all of the three appointed staff members, we the Kerry Council conduct annual performance reviews of each of them. Typically, this happens in the fall this year. Th those performance reviews happen the week of November 17th. In the days and weeks leading up to these performance reviews, a number of public records requests that involve Shawn, the council, and several other staff revealed that activities directed or undertaken by Sha were inconsistent with the town's culture. The council was copied on the response to these records and for the first time we the council as a whole became aware of the disturbing decisions made by and direction given by Shawn to staff. As part of our due diligence, we met with several town staff to better understand what these records were showing and to confirm our concerns. Then on November 20th in closed session, the council voted unanimously to immediately place Shawn on administrative leave as we took the steps necessary to separate Shawn from the organization. Multiple federal and state privacy, public records, and equal opportunity

laws govern what we could say at each step. and they still do. Also, like most city managers around the state and nation, Shawn worked according to an employment contract signed by him and the town when he was hired in 2016. This contract also dictates elements of what happened in the event or what would happen in the event that either Shawn or the council wanted the employment arrangement to end. So, we've been following the applicable federal employment laws, state public records, open meetings and employment laws, and applicable carry personnel laws, as well as the provisions set by Shaun's contract to get us here today where the council and I can say these words. It has been hard, very hard for me not to be able sh to share more than we have up to this point. And it's been sad and difficult emotionally to unwind our relationship with Shawn because for many of us, we saw Shawn as our friend, not simply as an employee. Even so, there were basically three issues that led us to deciding to place Shawn on leave. One, over-the-top spending and inadequate financial reporting. Two, lack of transparency with the full council, staff, and citizens. Three, an unhealthy work environment created by Shawn with many of the staff that work most closely with him. For me as mayor, it simply came down to the lack of trust and confidence.

While we will know a lot more about things that have occurred over the last few years, there may be more to learn. And so we have hired a law firm specializing in employment investigations to join us into looking deeply into Shaun's activities and the things he's directed staff to do to ensure that we are fully aware of any problems that we put process and that we put process changes in place so that something like this will never happen again in Kerry. This firm's work will take time. I expect it to take several months, if not more. And I promise that we will keep you, our citizens and staff updated on the progress, our findings and our direction to rush rush for changes as well as the changes we know we may need as a council and how we operate and that's up to us at this table. Now, I have to say, having been a Kerry resident and it's been part of my life for most of my life, I was absolutely stunned that about the revelations that we've had and about what's come forward so far. I'm sick, I'm sad, and I'm mad. [clears throat] And like my colleagues, I'm committed to setting things right and moving Carrie forward, which is what we're doing tonight by naming Russ our interim town manager. I want to say I personally am not aware of anything illegal that has occurred

and that's important. Our finances are in good shape thanks to our staff who've been working hard to blunt the impacts of Shaun's direct and indirect actions. And for the folks who live and work in Kerry every day, the beautiful high-performing Carry machine has continued to hum despite the problems of one in town hall. It's not lost on me or this council of what kind of great work the Kerry staff has been doing and we're forever grateful to our staff. And with that, I'm going to open it up because I've done a lot of eyes and I want to hear from my colleagues if they have something to say before I swear an interim manager. Any any comments to make in addition? I think

I think Mary you said it uh very well and that's kind of the sentiment within the council. So thank you so much for for sharing those words because I know that a lot of people want to know what happened and um you know we appreciate your leadership. Thank you.

I agree and I just want to say I appreciate the journalist who have been doing their due diligence. I appreciate the residents of Kerry who have been patient during this difficult time. And as a brand new council member, I am dedicated to earning your trust and I believe that this team will do it and that Carrie is fundamentally strong and we will weather the storm together and be even stronger on the other side.

And I'd like to also thank all of the staff, the I think 1328 employees who have been in the dark. many of them been in the dark and struggling quietly, but still doing their job every day to keep Carrie humming as you said. You are really the backbone and the the spine of this of of

this amazing town and your work does not go unnoticed. So, thank you.

It's really easy to to echo the comments that have been said and starting with the mayor. It it's been extremely difficult. Um, I can only speak for myself, but it would have it would have been much easier to to just say all the things from the beginning. But, um, we have to follow the law and we had to make sure that through following the law that we took the time we needed to make um, appropriate decisions. And I have absolute full faith in our staff and my colleagues moving forward that we will um do what's right for Carrie and continue to put our best foot forward um despite any obstacles and make sure that we're continuing to do uh to listen to our residents and make sure that their voices are heard and we've been hearing you. And I I I guess I want to say I'm sorry despite the fact that I I know that we had to do we had to wait until today to say some of the things, but um we're ready to move forward.

Thank you. And with that, Russ, you've been with us a very, very long time, and we appreciate you, and more importantly, we trust you.

Thank you. and thank you for serving or being willing to serve during this unprecedented moment in K's evolution. And I would ask that you join me at the podium. Certainly. [snorts] Russ Overton, do you solemnly swear that you will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United

States and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina, not inconsistent therewith, and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office as interim town manager of the town of Kerry. So help you God.

I do.

Congratulations.

Thank you. Uh mayor and council, I just want to thank you so much for this honor and opportunity. Um I really couldn't be more [clears throat] excited despite how we got here. And I also have to thank my wife Christie. Um, and back in 1998 n uh 1998 as we were talking about taking a job for me and Carrie, uh, she and I both did a list of pros and cons about staying at the firm I was with or coming to Kerry. Um, it was clear that the the pros worked out for Carrie and uh, I'm so excited that we made this choice to come to Kerry um, all those years ago. Um, I've worked with so many fabulous people and staff especially see a lot of staff here. Thank you uh for the support, but for council and citizens and um over that time, I can't really imagine being anywhere else. I look forward to working together with the new council uh to continue to problem solve, something I've enjoyed throughout my career, especially being an engineer. Um and and solve those problems for our citizen uh keeping Kerry a the wonderful place that it is that we all love and that so many people want to be a part of. Thank you again uh for this opportunity. I look forward to working with all of you. Thanks.

Thank you, Rose. This was an emergency meeting. We have no further business. So, I declare this meeting ajourned.