Durham County manager cleared of wrongdoing by oversight committee

This story was updated at 2 p.m. July 23, 2020.

A committee that oversees local government managers has cleared Durham County Manager Wendell Davis of alleged wrongdoing tied to his accusing a county commissioner of racism.

An anonymous individual filed a complaint with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) about Davis’ conflict with Commissioner Heidi Carter, according to a letter from the association’s ethics committee.

Davis accused Carter of racism in a letter to her in February, after an exchange between the two at a county board meeting. Davis, who has been manager since 2014, is Black. Carter, who is serving her first term, is white.

At the February board meeting, Carter said she was frustrated with the length of time it took for county staff to draft new construction plans for Durham Public Schools.

“I’m frustrated that it took a near emergency,” Carter, a former school board member, said at the meeting “I feel like if the direction had been given from management to you all, we could’ve gotten this sooner.”

In the letter, Davis also alleged Carter told him after she began her term, “You work for the Board, and when we tell you to do something, you’d better grin and bear it.” Her language “harkens back to a time in American history, when people of color were slaves.,” he stated.

Carter called the letter’s claims “baseless” and asked why Davis would raise the issue before a primary election, which she won three weeks later.

In April, the county agreed to investigate the claims and to seek outside legal counsel to look into Davis’ concerns and also to assess how he sent the letter, to see if his actions aligned with ICMA’s ethics code, and to determine if he violated a state law prohibiting county employees from using their influence to sway an election.

Wendell Davis cleared of misconduct

In ICMA’s July 1 letter to Davis, Jessica Cowles, an ethics adviser and liaison for the association’s Committee on Professional Conduct, wrote that Davis did not violate the association’s ethics code.

The committee cleared Davis of misconduct in regard to six concerns, alleged by the anonymous complainant:

▪ that he did not follow the county’s grievance procedures to report his concern with Carter’s conduct toward him and other county employees.

▪ that he did not speak to the commissioners so they could begin an investigation but instead chose to write a letter that was quickly leaked to the press.

▪ that he spoke with reporters and gave on-camera interviews about the “highly sensitive personnel allegation.”

▪ that his timing in writing the letter may have interfered with the commissioners’ upcoming primary election.

▪ that he may have recruited former commissioners to run for election against Carter to build a voting bloc on the governing body.

▪ that he wrote the letter to cite during his upcoming employment agreement negotiations.

Cowles thanked Davis for his “candid response” to the review process and accepted his explanations for the complaints.

In response to the timing of the letter, Davis said he “believed Ms. Carter would be successful in retaining her seat,” and so, he “did not think the timing of writing the letter would influence the outcome.”

“CPC understands it was not your intention for it to be made public as evidenced by your sending it to her personal, not public, email address,” wrote Cowles.

After reviewing the six concerns, the committee ultimately voted to close the case.

“As you move forward, the CPC encourages you to consider your strategy and approach to engage your board members and employees in constructive dialogue to advance the interests of all,” Cowles wrote to Davis.

Carter said she could not comment on ICMA’s conclusions, but said she agrees with their encouraging Davis to consider his engagement strategy with the board.

“The County manager has used a communication approach that has impaired the working relationship with the Board. I agree with ICMA that this is significant,” Carter stated in an email to The News & Observer.

A spokesperson for ICMA was unavailable to comment on its findings, said Rhani Franklin, the association’s media relations worker.

Wendy Jacobs, chair of the board of county commissioners, said she could not comment on who filed the anonymous complaint, and how the ICMA review might factor into the county’s investigation by outside counsel.

Davis declined to comment.

Staff writer Virginia Bridges contributed to this story.

This story was updated to clarify that Davis did not say Carter told him to “Grin and bear it” at the February board meeting. His letter stated she made the comment “not long” after she joined the board..

This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 2:23 PM.