Political battle brewing over Durham County manager’s pay, perks and severance package

This story was updated March 10, at 5:00 p.m. to include a statement provided by Durham County on Wendell Davis’ contract.

One of Durham’s most powerful political groups said this week it is “greatly concerned” by County Manager Wendell Davis’ contract, calling it “extremely lopsided against the community’s interests.”

Several Black community activists immediately called the open letter from the People’s Alliance a plot to get rid of a prominent African-American leader in Durham.

The People’s Alliance has nearly 2,000 members, and its endorsements are sought after by political candidates. In its letter, the board of directors questioned Davis’ $200,000-plus salary, seven weeks of vacation time, term life insurance and “hefty” vehicle allowance.

His contract terms, the letter continued, make it “nearly impossible for a board to hold the manager accountable for his performance or lack thereof absent a massive severance package.”

The group, saying recently retired City Manager Tom Bonfield was more centrist than the left-of-center council majority he served, urged city and county leaders to appoint managers who match their elected bodies’ progressive political philosophy.

Davis’ contract expires in June, and the People’s Alliance stated, as written, it will be automatically renewed.

In an emailed statement to The News & Observer, the county’s Human Resources Director Kathy Everett-Perry wrote “the terms of the contract speak for themselves.”

“If there is a provision for the contract to renew at the end of the five years, it may be considered a convenience clause to continue county operations without the delay associated with additional contract negotiations,” Perry wrote.

Nia Wilson, executive director of SpiritHouse, a grassroots organization addressing poverty and racism in Durham, said the PA’s letter has nothing to do with being progressive.

“The People’s Alliance has felt like they have cornered the market on what progressive is or isn’t in Durham,” she said. “And oftentimes, their progressive-ism shuts out much of the Black community in Durham, who are also very progressive. And I see it as actually very racist.”

The role of a county manager is to manage millions of dollars and to be accountable for how it is spent. It’s not based on how progressive their politics are, she said.

“If every time a new administration, a new board comes on, they choose a new manager based on their political ideologies, that doesn’t make sense,” she said. “That’s not how you run a budget.”

Davis declined to comment in a phone call with The N&O.

Funding for public schools

Millicent Rogers, co-president of the People’s Alliance, said it is a time for change in Durham.

She said the new Board of County Commissioners, likely the first all-women county board in North Carolina, should not be bound to the kind of contract Davis has, which was implemented by the previous board.

Davis’ contract includes a severance package of one year’s salary and all compensation remaining in his term if the board fires him without cause. It also states the county will pay $600 a month for “personal vehicle use for County business.”

Rogers, who is Black, said the PA’s concerns about Davis go beyond his contract.

“If you look at Davis’ track record, you can see that he has not supported the progressive values of the community, particularly in regards to funding public schools,” she said.

In 2018 and 2019, Davis proposed giving less money to Durham Public Schools than the school board asked for, partly because of diminishing enrollment as parents gravitated toward charter schools, The N&O reported.

Wilson said Davis has been seeking greater accountability from the school system for many years, and he has received a lot of push back from the Durham Association of Educators as a result.

“They’ve accused him of not caring about children over the years, of not caring about education,” she said.

Grade-level proficiency across the majority African-American and Hispanic student body has been consistently below 50% every year. Between 2015 and 2019, it grew from 44.9% to 49%, according to DPS’ most recent data.

The issue of school funding came to a climax last February when Davis and Commissioner Heidi Carter feuded over the district’s construction needs, which followed with Davis accusing Carter of racism, The N&O reported.

County manager contract

The county commissioners last approved Davis’ contract in a 3-2 vote after calling an unadvertised closed session during a budget meeting, The N&O reported in 2016.

At the time, the two commissioners who voted against it said they needed more time to review the contract, which raised Davis’ salary to $210,709 a year.

In comparison, in 2018, Durham’s city manager made $243,503 a year, The Herald-Sun reported.

Wake County’s manager makes $250,637 a year, with a $300 semi-monthly travel allowance, according to Wake County’s communications manager. His contract does not automatically renew, and Wake County’s population is about three times larger than Durham County’s.

Lavonia Allison, a former chairwoman for the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, had described the two commissioners’ votes against Davis’ contract as “racial,” The N&O reported. She also linked the issue to how Davis had pushed Durham Public Schools for more accountability.

The three commissioners who had voted for the contract are Black and the two who had voted against it are white. Commissioners Chair Brenda Howerton and Vice-chair Wendy Jacobs are the only members from then who remain on the board.

The PA’s board of directors is racially diverse, with four Black members, six white members, one Asian and one Hispanic member.

Rogers said it’s time for the county commissioners to give the contract another look.

“This is an effort for accountability and a true assessment of the work that the manager is doing,” she said.

But Wilson thinks the PA published its letter to “provide cover” for the three non-Black commissioners — Carter, Jacobs and Nida Allam — if they ended Davis’ contract.

She said the PA, Jacobs and Carter “have wanted to get rid of the manager from the very beginning.”

When asked by The N&O whether the PA wanted the commissioners to eliminate his contract, Rogers said she wants the board to have a conversation.

“I want them not to auto renew his contract,” she said.

Carter asked to “recuse herself”

Shortly after a closed session during Monday night’s board meeting, Howerton made a motion that Carter “recuse herself from comments (and) from any involvement in the manager’s contract.”

“I’m not recusing myself, no matter how the vote goes,” Carter said. “So we can take a vote, but I will not be recusing myself. I don’t know how to be any clearer.”

The motion failed 3-2, with Allam, Carter and Jacobs voting against it.

Howerton and Commissioner Nimasheena Burns voted for it.

This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 1:12 PM.