HAMLET — A former Moore County municipal manager will temporarily take the reins in Richmond County’s second-largest town.
The Hamlet City Council held an emergency meeting Monday morning to hire Bill Zell as the interim city manager.
City Clerk and Zoning Coordinator Gail Strickland said the vote was unanimous, although Councilmen Jesse McQueen and Maurice Stuart were unable to attend the meeting due to conflicts with their jobs.
Zell retired as town manager of Aberdeen at the end of 2016 after 13 years at the helm.
Mayor Bill Bayless said that under the council-manager form of government, there are certain things that only a manager can do, including hiring and firing city employees.
Bayless also said there are a number of retired municipal managers in the state who offer their services and experience when town’s find themselves in need. Out of a list of about seven, Bayless said Zell was the closest of the few who were currently available.
Zell will work 30 hours per week (9 a.m.-4 p.m.) at $50 per hour.
A native of Miami, Florida, Zell and his wife, who was from Detroit, moved to North Carolina in 1981.
He started his local government career in purchasing for Davidson County. After receiving his Master’s in Public Affairs in 2000, Zell moved up to human resources director.
When his youngest son graduated high school in 2002, Zell said he started looking for manager positions and found the job in Aberdeen the following year.
“It was a great find,” he said.
This won’t be Zell’s first time as a temporary manager. He was hired in 2017, less than a year after his retirement, as the manager of Spring Lake in Cumberland County, the Fayetteville Observer reported at the time, where he also made $50 per hour. He went back for a second stint last year.
“I do like retirement,” he joked. “It’s good to keep your hand in it … It’s exciting to meet new people.”
Zell fills the vacancy left by Jonathan Blanton, who left to become the first manager for the town of Ranlo in Gaston County.
Blanton, who was hired in January of 2017, served as Hamlet’s manager for the better part of three years.
He announced his resignation in 2019 to take a job at UNC Charlotte as director of business affairs and finance where he was to oversee an $18 million budget, as well as personnel and business operations for the University’s Graduate School.
However, after staying on as interim manager, he was re-hired in June at $90,000 per year.
Blanton presented the city’s annual budget earlier this month before leaving.
