Rick Fletcher named director of city Public Works Department
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on March 29, 2017 10:17 AM
Full Size
Rick Fletcher
A retired Air Force civil engineer and interim director of the Goldsboro Public Works Department has been selected to lead two city departments.
Rick Fletcher was promoted this week to director of the Goldsboro Public Works Department, which includes a supervisory role over the Goldsboro Public Utilities Department.
Fletcher, who started working for the city in 2013, was originally hired as building maintenance supervisor within the public works department. He was promoted to deputy director and later became interim director following the resignation of former director Jose Martinez, in October.
Fletcher applied for the director's position, which now merges the public works and public utilities departments under his leadership. The retirement of the city's former public utilities director, Karen Brashear, led to the city manager's decision to hire a director to lead both departments.
Fletcher was the city's top pick out of a pool of 29 applicants, said Randy Guthrie, Goldsboro assistant city manager. He will earn a salary of $90,000.
"I am really excited to work with Rick Fletcher as our new public works director," Guthrie said. "The leadership he demonstrated as interim director, along with his education and experience, showed he was the correct person for the job.
"Rick's management and organizational skills will be an asset to the community as we combine our public works and public utility departments into one department to more efficiently serve our citizens."
The public works department, the city's largest with 106 employees, maintains city water, sewer and stormwater lines, buildings, cemeteries, the city garage and sold waste. Public utilities includes the city's water plant, water reclamation and compost facilities.
Fletcher, originally from Virginia, enlisted in the Air Force in 1987 and after nearly a decade, was accepted into the Airmen Education and Commissioning program. The program allowed him to complete a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, within three years, from N.C. State University, in 2000. He also attended Officer Training School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2001.
He earned a master's degree in engineering management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, in 2005 and retired as a major in early 2014.
Fletcher served two tours at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, as an enlisted airman from 1992 to 1994 and as an officer from 2005 to 2008. Prior to retirement, he was a Reserve Officers Training Corps adjunct instructor at Duke University and Fayetteville State University. As a civil engineer, Fletcher's work involved maintaining the entire infrastructure of military bases, at locations in the United States and abroad.
"My career in the Air Force was very similar to my responsibilities in public works," Fletcher said. "It's very similar, as far as the career path, the job. It was a seamless transition for me."
Fletcher plans to continue supporting many of the initiatives the previous director started in the public works department, including support for employee training programs, updating equipment and city infrastructure and taking care of the staff.
"I'm just trying to keep moving in the same direction as we have been during the last few years," he said.
He also views his supervisory role as a public service position.
"I served my country for 27 years and now, I serve the city of Goldsboro, and that's what I try to instill in my employees," Fletcher said. "If we take care of each other, everything will fall into place."