When his phone rang, Ron Niland reached into the depths of his closet to locate and dust off his town manager’s hat so he could help “get things straightened out” down in Rural Hall.
The former Mount Airy town manager and mayor answered the call and is now back at the helm of the town of 3,500 in Forsyth County following the abrupt resignation of its town manager.
“This wasn’t something I anticipated,” Niland said Wednesday while wondering aloud why his new role as interim manager for the town would be newsworthy to the folks of Surry County. He said he was happy to step back into a public service role again even though he had been trying to, “Get more retired.”
He steps in to fill the role of town manager for Rural Hall and oversee the day-to-day operations of the town and its staff of 22. He will be charged with making sure the town continues forward on projects that had already been initiated such as work on a fire station and park improvements.
Niland also pointed to the calendar and the fact that budget season is right around the corner. The fact that he has been around the business end of a budget having participated in both the writing of and implementation of a town budget means his expertise will help smooth over the transition for a town finding itself again in leadership transition.
There is not a deep bench when it comes to municipal and county level governments, so while Niland may have lost his bid to be elected mayor in Mount Airy in November, his decades of expertise were not simply lost to the wind. “It worked out to where it was mutually beneficial for both parties,” he said.
His company, All American Associated of Mount Airy Inc. was already consulting the town of Rural Hall. There was a familiarity that led them to feel this to be a good fit for all parties. “They knew I had a management background and since I was already working with them, they asked me to do it.”
All American Associates will continue in its consulting role for the town for their fee of $1,800 per month and compensation for Niland to lead Rural Hall is to be $3,000 per month; the former mayor will draw no benefits from the town.
Rural Hall’s previous town manager, Misty Meadows, resigned last week before Niland was tapped to serve. Mayor Tim Flinchum and members of city government have remained silent about her departure.
There has been some degree of confusion and controversy about a multi-car traffic accident Meadows was in while driving a town-owned car. Court documents released to some media outles show the police were not called and there was no investigation of that accident. Her insurance covered all the damage to all three vehicles as a child of hers was driving the vehicle that caused the read-end collision between the three cars — the town’s included, according to those media reports.
Separately, the town has been under review from the state treasurer’s office since November 2021 over $1.5 million that was reportedly missing from the town’s account, “Citizens and property taxpayers deserve to know that governance, competency and transparency exist with the administration of the finances of Rural Hall,” state treasurer Dale Folwell said at the time. There has been no final audit report nor has any connection been made between the traffic accident or the audit to the departure of Meadows.
Meadows was herself a replacement manager after having served as the town’s administrative assistant and town clerk before taking over as manager in late 2021. In October of that year, the town had a wave of “apparently coordinated resignations,” as Flinchum called it. Meadows’ predecessor, Town Manager Megan Garner, the Mayor Pro Tem, the town attorney, and two councilmen all quit on the same day.
Niland noted that there has been an increased difficulty in filling local and county level government jobs, a problem that is part due to declining interest in that type of work and partially a demographic shift.
“You had a large group that came through at once and the Baby Boomers are aging out. As the population available to the work force has gotten smaller, it has become harder to fill these municipal and local government jobs. You see the same problems with teachers who are hitting a wall of retirement,” he said.
There is simply a declining number of bodies in the available workforce pool he said noting that in 1990 when he applied to be Mount Airy city manager, there were 72 applicants for the job. “This last cycle there was 17. I know Mount Airy and Rural Hall are both looking for finance officers too, it’s hard to find people — the numbers just aren’t there.”
“It may hit local government more critically because these are not the highest paying jobs and now there is increased scrutiny of these jobs as well,” Niland noted, “but this is facing all professions.”
“I look forward to serving Rural Hall until such time as a new manager can be found,” he said estimating that it could take four to six months to find the next town manager.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com