Following a
brief closed session meeting on New Years Eve morning, Wrightsville Beach Mayor
David Cignotti announced that former Carolina Beach town manager Tim Owens
would assume the position of Wrightsville Beach’s town manager. After resigning
from the position at Carolina Beach in November, Owens applied for the
Wrightsville Beach job when Cignotti and the board of aldermen made the
decision to reopen the job posting for another 30 days.
With a 17-year
career in local government in coastal North Carolina communities like Carolina
Beach, Shallotte, Kitty Hawk and Pamlico County, and 14 of those years in a
managerial capacity, Owens said he was ready to bring his experience to
Wrightsville Beach.
“Some things may
just be meant to be and I’m excited to start,” Owens said. “It worked out that
Wrightsville Beach re-advertised at the same time that I was looking for a
job.”
Owens officially
starts his new job on Tuesday, Jan. 8, with a salary of $86,000, which is roughly $12,000 less than his salary at Carolina Beach but he could see an increase after a six month probationary period. He said his biggest challenge
at the beginning will be getting caught up on the town’s procedures and the
budgeting process, but that interim town manager Tony Wilson and former town
manager Bob Simpson would be helpful in that process.
“Bob and I
talked periodically about different issues so I know Bob pretty well but I will
just have to hit the ground running Tuesday morning,” he said. “Bob spoke very
highly of staff and I have seen nothing but that yet.”
In response to
the hire of Owens, Mayor Cignotti said he was glad the board exercised patience
in the search for the new town manager.
“I thought we
did a good job of not being in a hurry in this process and I thought it worked
to our benefit, and hopefully we have someone that will be with us for a long
time,” Cignotti said. “It worked out very well and I think we got the right
person.”
Although the
town initially planned on hosting a public meet and greet for the top two
candidates for town manager, Cignotti said the board was so unanimously in
favor of Owens that it would have been unfair to the second candidate to hold
such an event when the board had already resolved to choose Owens.
Cignotti also
said Owens’ sudden resignation from Carolina Beach in November was not much of
a concern for the board because of the unique political element in the town
manager position.
“Town managers
work in political environments and sometimes things happen that are to their
detriment but that doesn’t mean they are not doing an excellent job,” he said.
“Most jobs don’t have a political environment that you have to deal with.”
Mayor Pro Tem Bill
Sisson said Owens’ reputation with the staff at Carolina Beach spoke for
itself.
“The staff down
at Carolina Beach had nothing but praise for him,” Sisson said. “So when your
staff says this guy is terrific to work with then that is a pretty good
indication that he knows how to work with people.”
With the
important issues facing Wrightsville Beach in 2013 like the FY 2013-14 budget
and the upcoming beach renourishment project, Cignotti said he feels confident
in Owens’ abilities.
“Tim has
extensive budget experience so that was great that we were able to get him on
board before we really got into the budget,” Cignotti said. “He also has been
heavily involved in beach nourishment so he understands about the details and
intricacies in that and also the funding mechanisms so he will be heavily
involved in the funding for next year’s nourishment.”
Sisson also said
communication and interface with the community are very important aspects of
the town manager position, and that Owens would be adept at handling those
tasks.
“We’ve got some strong
personalities here in town so you don’t want someone who is just going to
cave,” Sisson said. “At the same time you want somebody who is going to have an
open mind and is going to deal with people fairly, regardless of their social
status, economic status or anything else because that is not the job of
government.”
