Leaders in Wake County town respond to abrupt staff resignations, concerns
The resignations of Zebulon’s town manager and assistant town manager within four days of each other set off a whirlwind of speculation and concerns among residents.
And many brought their questions about the resignations, pending litigation and overall transparency to a town hall meeting Monday.
More than 150 people attended the meeting at the Zebulon Community Center to hear from Mayor Glenn York and Mayor Pro Tem Jessica Harrison. Some left, they said, without getting the answers they sought.
Gilbert Todd Jr. resigned as town manager April 17 at the start of a Board of Commissioners meeting, just four months after accepting the position. After Todd’s resignation, the town hired Taiwo Jaiyeoba as interim town manager. Jaiyeoba placed Assistant Town Manager Kellianne Williams on suspension, who then decided to resign.
Todd said at the April 17 meeting he no longer could continue in his role due to “recent developments in a serious personnel matter.”
“I was placed into a position where I was expected to take action that I believe is unethical and inappropriate,” he said.
Monday, York confirmed to residents at the meeting that the board had asked Todd to suspend Williams.
“My thing is folks kind of get mixed up on ethics and personal values,” York said in an interview with The News & Observer. “I think a lot of times when folks say ‘unethical,’ it means that they don’t want to go against what their personal values are. It doesn’t mean that we’ve done anything unethical or illegal when we made the request.”
In North Carolina, a municipal board can only hire or fire three employees: the town manager, clerk and town attorney.
In an email to The N&O Monday night, after the town hall, Todd addressed his resignation and what the board had asked him to do.
“Kellianne was a qualified and exemplary employee with no performance issues,” Todd said. “Secondly, it is not within the authority of the Board to issue personnel actions regarding town staff. I felt as though the directive was board overreach, and it violated what I personally believe is ethical and appropriate.”
The board should have trusted him to do the job he was hired to do, he said.
Williams did not respond to requests for comment from The N&O.
Jaiyeoba, who served as town manager before Todd was hired last year, told residents that he was trying to balance transparency with what he is permitted by law to disclose.
“I do understand the need for transparency, but we are also bound by certain statutes that we can’t go against, and so that much is what I will say,” Jaiyeoba said. “I came in and I was able to make that decision. I felt that it was the right decision to make, but again, the assistant term manager responded by choosing to resign.”
Resident Haddie Dunn came to the town hall wanting to better understand why the manager left after a few months.
“It raises some serious concerns,” she said. “You know? What’s going on?”
But those resignations aren’t the only recent staffing changes in the town of nearly 7,000 residents in eastern Wake County.
The town’s website listed key positions like communications manager, police chief, public works, human resources manager and the clerk as vacant or with an interim staff member.
Planning Director Matt Lower left earlier this month but has since returned. On Monday, he declined to elaborate why he left his job.
“What I can say is that I was invited back,” he said. “I had a variety of opportunities, and I felt that accepting the invite and being a part of bringing some stability and helping ensure that our investors maintain due process, I think that’s an important part of being a public servant.”
Zebulon residents concerns
Some residents left the meeting frustrated that their questions weren’t answered, or couldn’t be answered.
“I came out here because I care about the city,” Nick Driver said. “And, you know, if they hadn’t completely ignored me, my question would have been: Is there any way to get an itemized list of where our taxpayer dollars are going. I want to know where our money’s going.”
Denada Jackson, a communications consultant hired to assist the town, told the crowd that all questions would be answered on the town’s website, including questions about specific salaries or figures.
Questions about pending litigation were also not answered, including about a lawsuit from the developers of Zebulon South, a development that would have brought hundreds of new housing units to the town. Town leaders denied the developers’ rezoning request, prompting the lawsuit.
“While it is pending, it’s inappropriate to talk about,” said Sam Slater, the town’s attorney. “I know it’s not the answer you want. I’m sorry I had to tell you that, but that’s my job.”
Zebulon town manager resignation
In the April 17 meeting, Todd said he was stepping down not just because of the ““unethical and inappropriate” request. He said the town manager is responsible for managing staff and “administering all personnel actions.”
“I have always believed how we treat people, especially those who serve the public alongside us, says everything about our leadership,” Todd said. “I will not compromise those beliefs even at the cost of stepping away.”
Then he got up from the table and left the meeting.
Commissioner Shannon Baxter told The N&O she learned about his decision when Todd shared it with the board.
“I think the former town manager either misspoke or was making a spurious statement, which would be, indeed unfortunate because the town board has never asked, nor would we ask, him to perform anything that was unethical or outside the duties of his contract,” she said. “The board just expected him to perform the duties outlined in his contract.”
One of the town manager’s duties is to submit a proposed budget for leaders to vote on.
“I like to get budget information, you know, beginning in February,” she said. “And I didn’t feel like it was being prepared in a way that I was comfortable, like time wise. I can’t speak for the former town manager, with any of the statements [he made]. I can say that as far as the statement about us, about the board asking him to do anything that would violate any kind of ethics just didn’t happen.”
Baxter said she could not discuss “any personnel stuff” when asked if the commissioners had given Todd direction on the assistant town manager.
She also said she’s never “seen the [Board of Commissioners] act in any way that is unethical.”
However, she declined to say whether she’d witnessed anything unethical from Todd, citing personnel law.
In Todd’s email to the N&O Monday, he said he’s “disappointed” in the board’s public statements after his resignation.
“I am disappointed that the Board seems to be creating alternate talking points such as my own job performance and lack of delivery of budget in an attempt to distract from the central issue; the reason for my resignation,” he said.
The meeting was supposed to be livestreamed, but the town was having technical difficulties, Jackson said. Video of the meeting will be posted online, she said.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 10:38 PM.
