It's time: Commissioner is right; it is time to put someone in charge

Forget for a moment that this mess likely has been made worse by the internal issues and missteps of the current board of Wayne County commissioners.

Forget also that there is a serious need for caution when it comes to not only deciding what to do about in-limbo County Manager Lee Smith but also in proceeding with the hiring of a new chief executive for the county.

Commissioner Joe Daughtery is right -- something needs to be done quickly to let the citizens know what is happening with the man hired to run their county and a real manager needs to be put into place as quickly as possible.

It is the responsible thing to do.

There is a reason that the county is not run by a commissioner or a board of commissioners. That is not their expertise -- and although Commission Chairman Wayne Aycock has been doing his best -- this is not what most of these leaders signed up for. And frankly, it is not good for the county.

That's why we need someone as soon as possible to get the county employees and departments under control and to start the work of reshaping the county government.

And we need to hear -- as quickly as possible -- what the final decision on Lee Smith is and how much that decision is going to cost us. And that answer needs to be given swiftly and with the state's Open Meetings Laws in mind.

There is no question that this entire county manager fiasco has been handled badly. And there is even less of a question that it is time for the county to move forward.

What remains to be emphasized now is how important it is that the right person be put in charge.

Let's hope that is the commissioners' Job 1.

Published in Editorials on January 22, 2014 11:03 AM