Front Royal’s new town manager no stranger to contentious or unstable municipal situations

A town manager who left his previous employment under a cloud and apparent threat to be fired over a dispute with his council over “his management style”; a town manager from a municipality with a recent unstable track record of its own management style – four managers in four years according to the Johnston County (North Carolina) Report.

It sounds like new Front Royal Town Manager Steven Hicks will fit right in here. No wonder Interim Town Manager Matt Tederick and council feel they have found the right man for the job.

The lead of a Johnston County Report story of July 30, 2020 states, “After just nine months on the job, Selma Town Manager Steven Hicks has reportedly agreed to resign. Sources tell Johnston County Report that Mr. Hicks will submit his resignation effective Monday, August 3^rd at 5:00 p.m.”

In the Town of Front Royal press release on Hicks’ hiring he is identified as the former town manager of Selma, N.C. And the photo accompanying the North Carolina paper’s article certainly appears to be a match for Front Royal’s new town manager, effective December 7, 2020, if with a tad more facial hair now.

Above, photo attached to Front Royal Press Release on Steven Hicks hiring; below, screen shot of photo accompanying referenced Johnston County Report story on Hicks’ departure from the town manager’s job in Selma, N.C. – Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

The Johnston County Report story continues:

“As previously reported, Town Councilman Byron McAllister on Tuesday allegedly offered the town manager a deal to voluntarily resign and receive one month of severance or be fired. Under Hicks employment contract, he is entitled to severance equal to six months of pay (3 months notice of termination plus 3 additional months salary).  He is currently making $120,000 annually.

“Some members of the town council were upset with his job performance and management style. Sources indicate there were enough votes to fire Hicks if the meeting had taken place this afternoon (at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 30, 2020, the date of the story’s publication).

The Selma government website notes a one-item July 27 Special Council Meeting – that item – a Closed Session on a personnel matter. With a separation agreement apparently in place, no meeting on July 30.

The Johnston County Report also noted that “Steven Hicks is the fourth person to serve as manager for the Town of Selma in the past four years. He was hired in October 2019 to replace former Selma Town Manager Elton Daniels, who resigned in February 2019 to accept a job with the City of Rocky Mount. Daniels had served just 18 months.”

According to the article, Hicks severance terms matched his contracted severance package equal to six months pay, not the one month or be fired option one councilman reportedly offered him.

“Sources say the deal will require Mr. Hicks to resign on August 3^rd. In return, he will receive his full salary for the next six months, including contributions to his retirement and health benefits. Vacation and sick leave will stop on August 3^rd, but he will receive all accumulated time. He will also be allowed to seek employment elsewhere before the six months’ severance ends,” the Johnston County Report noted. It sounds like Hicks wasn’t negotiating his termination from the position of weakness Councilman McAllister was trying to assert.

So, three months and three weeks after his abrupt departure from Selma, Mr. Hicks has been announced as the successor to Interim Front Royal Town Manager Matt Tederick after over a year of searching and rejection of as many as 80 candidates for the permanent town manager’s job.

Why the selection of someone who left his most recent job under a cloud of discontent after less than a year in his first municipal manager’s position?

We asked both Mayor Gene Tewalt and Vice-Mayor Bill Sealock, the latter who was head of council’s executive search committee, about Hick’s most recent employment situation and selection. The mayor said council was aware of the separation and pointed out a large percentage of candidates vetted had left their positions within a year or less of their presentation as candidates for the Front Royal job. The mayor suggested speaking with Sealock due to his more direct involvement in the search.

Sealock concurred with the mayor’s appraisal of candidate resumes council had previously reviewed being presented for the job. “All these guys were short-termers,” Sealock said of the pool of candidates brought to council. “He was vetted by the (executive search) contractor – it was not a big deal. He turned down one job before this one. His credentials were solid,” Sealock added of Hicks resume.

Sealock said council felt comfortable that Hicks departure from the Selma, North Carolina town manager’s position “was a political issue” largely revolving around “personality,” to which the vice mayor added of Hicks potential management style, “He is quite pushy.” But we guess old Marines like Sealock are used to that “management” style.

But if short on municipal administrative oversight experience, as noted in the town press release on his hiring, Hicks is long on municipal, departmental management experience. That 25-years’ experience includes General Services Director of the City of Durham, N.C.; Public Works and Utility Director of the City of Petersburg, Va.; Acting Assistant James City (Va.) County Administrator; and Resident Engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation in Williamsburg, Va.

In the press release on Hicks hiring, Sealock stated, “Finding the right candidate took longer than we expected. Council knew what they wanted in a manager and was patient to find the right Town Manager for our community. I believe our efforts have paid off by having the best candidate possible. I’m excited to see what Steven will bring to our Town government, businesses, and community.”

Mayor-elect Chris Holloway added, “Hicks was selected because of his impressive leadership in operations, bringing business in communities, developing fiscally conservative budgets, managing enterprise departments, and delivering complex infrastructure projects on-time and on-budget.”

“Complex infrastructure projects, fiscally conservative budgets, enterprise department management” are parts of a resume built for the most part as a departmental head. However, work during his nine months in Selma on a 400-acre mixed-use development project involving Duke Energy and Eastfield Crossing Developers projected to create 3,100 jobs was cited in Front Royal’s press release on Hicks’ hiring, though where in that project’s evolution Hicks was hired was not specified.

Be that as it may, Hick’s Town of Front Royal contract ratified November 30^th, includes a $140,000 annual base salary with a “signing bonus” of $5,000 and a relocation expense coverage of $10,000; with an option of a $300 monthly “vehicle allowance” toward the purchase, lease or ownership of a vehicle “in lieu of mileage expense reimbursement” among other leave, retirement and professional growth benefits, including an outstanding performance incentive bonus of “up to 5%” of his base salary annually. Depending on the length of service, as in his previous position in Selma, Hicks would receive three to six months’ severance pay upon his termination “without cause.”

Ever the legally astute municipality, Front Royal’s contract with Hicks also stipulates that among other scenarios, it will be terminated “upon … the death of the manager”. – So, there’ll be no collecting that salary or a severance package for three-to-six months from beyond the grave.

But hopefully, 25 years in the trenches of municipal departmental management and VDOT, not to mention Selma, N.C.’s seemingly tumultuous political environment, have toughened Steven Hicks up for his stint in Front Royal (aka Hell Town), and he won’t be negotiating an exit strategy with the Grim Reaper any time soon.

Attempts to get contact information for Hicks for comment on his professional path to Front Royal from the Town before publication were unsuccessful.