Some Zebulon residents say they're concerned about recent abrupt staff resignations. This comes after the town manager and assistant town manager resigned in the same week.
Town Manager Gilbert Todd resigned during a public meeting, saying the town commissioners told him to take unwarranted disciplinary action against the assistant town manager.
The assistant town manager, Kellianne Williams, resigned a few days later. Both Todd and Williams were hired by the town in 2024.
During a town hall meeting on Monday, commissioners responded to questions written on note cards from residents, such as “Why have we lost so many town employees lately?” or “If the town manager is responsible for addressing issues with the assistant manager, why was he given the directive (from town leaders) to terminate the town assistant manager?” They told residents that the questions and the town’s response would also be posted on the town’s website.
At the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Jessica Harrison talked about next steps and said that town leaders are working to gain back residents' trust.
“The board will be working very hard to find a permanent town manager who will be one that we all feel will be the best person to lead our town next,” she said.
In the meantime, Taiwo Jaiyeoba is the interim town manager, which is a role he previously had in Greensboro last year. WFDD reported a few months later that Greensboro spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle “claims of unwanted touching” made against him by one of his employees there.
Following concerns about resignations, residents wanted to know more about a lawsuit against the town over a housing development that commissioners rejected last year. Deacon Development Group had sought rezoning approval to build a 320-unit, 116-acre development called Zebulon South, just outside the downtown area. At Monday’s meeting, the town’s planner, Matt Lower, explained how developers are vetted.
“We have a series of standards that they have to meet before they advance to the next phase, and the next phase, and eventually to in front of the elected officials,” he said.
Last year, the town planner at the time said the developer met all the standards for approval, but the commission still rejected it in a 4-1 vote. Part of Deacon’s lawsuit claims that several town commissioners voted no because they didn’t like the attorney for Deacon presenting the application. The town's attorney said that due to litigation matters, he cannot comment about the lawsuit.
WUNC’s Colin Campbell contributed to this report.
