SPECULATION IS MOUNTING MEMBERS OF THE DURHAM County Board of Commissioners will meet today in closed session to discuss the renewal of Durham County Manager Wendell Davis’ contract. The meeting follows the decision to employ the services of Denise Smith Cline, an employment law attorney based in Raleigh, to review Davis’ contract.
Wendy Jacobs and Heidi Carter were prepared to press a motion to enter closed session during Monday’s meeting before Nida Allam countered with a recommendation to discuss today in a closed session. A vote not to extend Davis’ contract would take place without the benefit of a performance evaluation and could disrupt discussions involving the county budget.
Word of the potential vote has sparked tension among county employees and Black residents who continue to wait for a credible response to the Coleman Report.
The report argued that “Durham County Government is in a state of periodic dysfunction, at a time when the residents of Durham need it to be effective in dealing with several daunting issues, any one of which alone would be challenging.”
Smith Cline’s review of the contract is to determine the liability the county faces if Davis’ contract isn’t renewed. The contract, which uses the contract of former County Manager Mike Ruffin as a template, requires the county to compensate Davis for one year of his current compensation and benefit package. The contract allows commissioners to terminate the manager without cause; however, the circumstances leading up to the decision may be viewed as retaliation after heated exchanges between Carter and Davis.
The board of People’s Alliance has campaigned for commissioners to not renew the manager's contract. The Durham based political action committee has outlined a progressive agenda they argue Davis hasn’t supported. The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and The Friends of Durham have submitted letters to commissioners supporting Davis. Along with letters from citizens, the Racial Equity Task Force, Episcopalians United Against Racism and Organizing Against Racism Durham have challenged commissioners to operate with an antiracist lens.
Today’s vote, if it happens, promises to set Durham ablaze with comments exposing racial division in a city touted for being a model of diversity. The vote led by Jacobs and Carter could validate the influence of white power at the expense of authentic Black inclusion.
More details to follow.
_____________________________________________
Support the Rev-elution in offering independent, local, Black journalism by contributing at: Cash App, $CMizzou, or Venmo, Carl-Kenney-1
No comments:
Post a Comment