Scott Stevens to retire Sept. 14
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on August 16, 2018 5:50 AM
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Scott Stevens
Goldsboro City Manager Scott Stevens will retire effective Sept. 14 and take a position working for James City County, Va., Stevens announced in a press release Wednesday evening.
Stevens has been city manager for seven years, having started work in August of 2011. Before that, he worked with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the city of Kinston as its manager, city engineer and in several other positions.
He said the decision to retire comes down to a combination of the time he has spent in the state retirement savings system and an attractive opportunity in Virginia. Stevens said he spent a lot of time in James City County with family as a child, so it was a natural fit when an opportunity to work there came up.
"It was always my intent to retire once I reached this point. I've spent 29 years in the retirement system, and 30 is about the norm," Stevens said. "That, plus the fact that James City County is so comfortable for me, it's more the place and the time combined than me trying to run away from Goldsboro."
Stevens said there was "an awful lot of stuff" to be proud of during his tenure as city manager, specifically mentioning the city's downtown Streetscape project as well as improved relations with Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. He thanked city staff for their work in making it all happen.
"It's really been our staff doing the work," he said. "I've just happened to be the manager during a time when the staff was doing a lot of really good things."
Mayor Chuck Allen said the Goldsboro City Council will likely discuss how to proceed after Stevens leaves during its next board meeting Monday. Allen said he expects the council will look for a consulting firm to help find candidates for the job.
In the meantime, the council will appoint an interim manager once Stevens is gone. Allen said he is not completely familiar with the process for doing so, but was confident that an internal appointment would be simple.
"Scott doesn't leave until Sept. 14, so it won't be until at least Sept. 15," he said. "But I have no doubt that we have plenty of qualified people here who will be up to that job."
Allen said he is not happy to see Stevens go.
"I'm very sorry to see Scott leave," Allen said. "He's been quite an asset to the city, I believe. The department heads have really flourished under him, so I'm sad to see him go."