Politics

Ward blasts board over county manager bonuses

By Bill Moss, Published: April 16, 2018

Henderson County Commission candidate Don Ward is questioning the action by the Board of Commissioners granting large bonuses to the county manager, saying the amounts appear to be excessive and should have been approved in an open session.

A campaign supporter made a public record request and received a spreadsheet showing County Manager Steve Wyatt’s salary, cost of living increases and bonuses dating back to March 2012. The records show that Wyatt has received $226,700 in bonuses since March of 2016, including a $75,000 lump sum bonus and $14,342 retention bonus effective April 6. His regular salary is $191,227.
Ward is running in the May 8 Republican primary against Rebecca McCall for the District 4 seat held by two-term incumbent Tommy Thompson, who is retiring.
At a Republican Party-sponsored debate with McCall last week, Ward and his supporters submitted a question about Wyatt’s salary and bonuses, using an old trick he learned from Ab Jackson, the Henderson County sheriff in the 1980s and ’90s.
“We’re going to tear the top left corner off each one of the questions,” he told a supporter, so they could see which ones made it to the moderator. Only one did, he said. Wyatt’s pay is a legitimate issue, Ward said, because of the amount but also because of what he describes as a lack of openness.
“They’ve been doing this in closed session. In my opinion this should be open session,” he said. “That’s the way we always did. To me this is hidden dollars. They’ve taken the liberty in closed session doing things I think should be in public session. If you look realistically at $75,000 and $90,000, that would pay for almost two school resource officers in our school system. … What is he doing that deserves a $75,000 bonus?”
A lot, two county commissioners said when asked to respond to Ward’s criticism.
Board chair Michael Edney and Commissioner Tommy Thompson strongly defended the pay increases and bonuses.
“In that bonus I would say we did our research for all the counties in North Carolina and found that the amount we were paying Steve via retention or straight-out bonuses or standard salary was in line with the rest of them.
“Should we have come out in an open session? I don’t know. I don’t know what the appropriate protocol would be.”
“I have no problems with what I voted on. I’d back it up 100 percent. Steve has done an absolutely wonderful job for us and deserves the bonus. Between him and the finance office, they have saved in past 7½ years since I’ve been there millions and millions and millions of dollars — selling stuff at a premium and buying stuff where we could do it (at lower prices). I got no problem saying I voted for that.”
The Board of Commissioners sets the salary for the county manager, county attorney, sheriff and register of deeds. (The salary of a third constitutional officer, the clerk of court, is set by the state.)
“It was an enthusiastic unanimous endorsement of the fact that he has earned that,” Thompson said of the board's discussion and vote in closed session. “This county has no idea the job that he has. If you look at the hospital, corporations, the head of other institutions around here he’s not making any more money than any of them are. His overall salary is nowhere near what a lot of these CEOs and what of a lot of these corporate heads make. We’re still conservative for the amount (of pay) for what he produces.”
Retention bonuses are part of the county’s pay policy and apply to all employees, Thompson said.
“Each individual who works in the county has the opportunity to receive a retention bonus depending on what they’re supervisor feels is appropriate for them,” Thompson said. “I’ve always said since I came into the county commission I was never going to balance the budget on the backs of the employees.”

Edney said that he had “absolutely” voted for the bonuses. He ticked off numerous reasons why.
“He’s the best manager in state, or one of the best,” he said. “Thirty years of service, not all of them here but a number of years here. He has saved the county 10-fold every penny he makes. Good management, leadership. Getting the most out of employees. He’s been a godsend to Henderson County.”
Both Thompson and Edney said it’s Wyatt’s fiscal management that has helped the county pile up a fund balance approaching $50 million, a hefty reserve account that keeps taxes low.
“He deserves a great deal of credit for that,” Edney said. “He’s doing the day in day out stuff, from the lowest employee all the way to the top. It’s a culture that he creates. … He could be in Wake, Mecklenburg, any of those places if he wanted to making three times the money.”
As for approving the bonuses in closed session, Edney said there’s no motive for secrecy.
“We release those minutes,” he said. “They do become open. They are open, maybe not immediately.”
He declined to offer an opinion on whether the county manager’s pay ought to be a issue in the District 4 campaign.
“I made it policy not to get involved in Republican primaries,” he said.
Thompson was not so reticent.
“If Ward is wanting to make an issue on this thing, those votes were unanimous,” Thompson said. “That was not a 3-2 or 4-1. That was unanimous as to (Wyatt’s) productivity, his ability and his success in doing his job. He can take whatever issue he wants but it’s got nothing to do with running against her. That’s just trying to get his name in front of the people in some form for free advertising.”