(Editor’s note: The following is an update to a story that originally published Monday morning. The original story follows below.)
New Hanover County commissioners showed their appreciation of County Manager Chris Coudriet Monday with a raise in pay and contract extension through fiscal year 2017.
After meeting in closed session to conduct performance reviews of Coudriet and the county clerk and attorney, the board voted unanimously to increase Coudriet’s annual salary to $175,000 and extend his contract through June 30, 2017.
The increase adds nearly $20,000 to Coudriet’s previous salary, which had been $159,630. (Editor’s note: A previous version of this update reported that Coudriet’s salary was increased 6.5 percent. While that is what Chairman Woody White said in the meeting, county staff later clarified the increase brought his salary to $175,000—nearly double the previously stated amount.)
Chairman Woody White had previously told Port City Daily the board would entertain bringing Coudriet’s salary in line with managers of comparable counties as part of his review.
The board also gave favorable reviews to County Clerk Sheila Schult and County Attorney Wanda Copley, both of whom likewise serve at the pleasure of the board. Schult’s salary was increased 3 percent to just over $74,500—an increase of about $2,200—while Copley’s salary was increased the same percentage to $143,106—and increase of about $4,200. Schult was also offered a $2,700 travel allowance.
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A week before his first formal evaluation as New Hanover County manager, Chris Coudriet sat calmly in his office at the county government center—sipping coffee and appearing relaxed while looking back on his first year on the job.
Asked if he was nervous about his evaluation—to be conducted today, by the board at whose pleasure he serves—Coudriet shrugged off the question, offering an assured, all-is-well “No”—conveying a calmness and got-it-all-together-ness that defines his approach, at least on the surface, to the county’s top administrative position.
Granted, he says: “I think there’s always anxiety and you’re anxious about being evaluated, but I hope that—and I think we have the kind of relationship—that if things are headed in the wrong direction, that the board as a body or individually would’ve communicated that.”
His confidence is justified, it turns out, after talking with his bosses.
Said Woody White, chairman of the county board of commissioners: “I think he is doing an outstanding job, and I intend to give him the highest marks in his evaluation that I can.”
Added Jonathan Barfield, the only current commissioner who has worked with Coudriet for more than half a year, the others elected or appointed since November: “I am quite satisfied with what he’s doing. I’ve had no surprises whatsoever.”
Noting his previous role as an assistant county manager, Barfield continued: “I had the ability to work with Chris for just about four years prior to him being hired, so I already knew what we were getting.” And that, Barfield said, is a manager who has taken—and continues to take—New Hanover County “to the next level.”
“I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen and the way he’s pulled his team together and surrounded himself with others that add value to the organization,” he said, “from the two assistant managers that he’s hired, to how he shifted some staff around to put them in positions where they can utilize their skills set better.
“I see him taking this county to the next level. He’s got a different way of thinking, which is good,” Barfield said. “Sometimes it’s good to have some new thoughts, fresh ideas coming in, that can help elevate your organization to the next level.”
Rebuilding year
Having just wrapped up his first full year as manager—though not his first in county management, having served as a manager in two other counties before coming on as an assistant with New Hanover—Coudriet stands satisfied with what has been accomplished in what could be described as a rebuilding year.
Upon beginning the job last July—succeeding Bruce Shell, whom he served under and learned from as assistant manager—Coudriet went about some personnel changes that put into place his administrative team.
Fellow assistant manager Avril Pinder was promoted from finance director. Tim Burgess was hired to replace Coudriet in his previous role. Lisa Wurtzbacher was hired to lead the finance department. And Joe Suleyman was brought in from the private sector to lead the newly established environmental management department.
Other decisions included the addition of a strategy and policy manager and a legislative and public affairs manager, and departmental adjustments such as the merging of Airlie Gardens and parks and recreation services into a combined parks and gardens department.
While the changes brought in new people to the county’s administrative management, Coudriet said the additions also brought fresh perspectives that served to benefit county operations.
“Certainly when you all are new in your positions, new ideas and maybe even administrative philosophy is different. And so you have to work with the organization to try to put into place the methodologies that you think are best going forward with the team that you have, and the team that you’re trying to build, and what you’re trying to accomplish as an organization.
“So the fact that we were all new in our positions, in some ways, I think was a real benefit,” Coudriet said, “in that we weren’t wedded to anything that we did and the way that we did it. Everything was open to be explored and new ideas and innovation considered.”
Among the year’s accomplishments, Coudriet notes the recently adopted, balanced budget that maintains the previous tax rate, fire tax and tipping fee; the addition of debt management and fund balance policies that helped earn the county a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s; and partnerships with the City of Wilmington and the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, the latter on projects such as service extensions to Bald Eagle Lane, improvements to the Kirkland sewage pump station and infrastructure improvements for Marquis Hills and Heritage Park.
Coudriet’s first year also saw him in the thick of events unlike what most managers see—those being events that eventually led to the removal of one of his bosses, then-commissioner Brian Berger.
Asked about the delicateness of that process, Coudriet said an effort was made to draw a line between his office and the removal proceedings, which he noted were brought by Berger’s fellow commissioners.
Finding agreement
As for Coudriet’s policies, both Barfield and White said they don’t always agree with his recommendations, but they both said they laud his ability to hear board members’ concerns and address them accordingly.
“I can’t imagine having a better relationship with our county manager, as a member of the board, than I have,” White said. “Do we disagree from time to time on recommendations that he might make? Of course. That’s part of the process. But the way he responds with data and ultimately with furthering the mission of the board, regardless of whether it agrees or disagrees with his recommendation, is outstanding, and it’s a testament to his professionalism.”
Added Barfield: “The conversation I’ve had with Chris is this: tell me what I need to hear, and not what I want to hear.
“I want to hear his perspectives on things. My wife and I don’t agree on everything, and it would be a terrible world if everything (the board) said our county manager agreed with, putting his input in,” he said. “He looks at things from a different perspective from mine, in terms of his role dealing with the entire budget and having those meetings with department heads. He sees one thing; I may see another.
“At the end of the day, it’s going to be the commissioners that will ultimately decide how we’re going to move forward, whatever funding that we’re going to do,” he said. “But you need (that in a) manager. We won’t always agree on every item, and I would never expect him to do so. If he did, we’d have some problems.”
To Coudriet, the process of providing recommendations and trying for agreement or consensus from the board is never one of disagreement. While the board has not agreed with all of his recommendations, such as selling Battle Park and Wrightsboro Park or certain budget proposals, Coudriet said it’s never a case of staff recommendations versus board positions.
“I am never in disagreement with the board,” Coudriet said, “because I fully recognize that they are elected to make decisions on behalf of the community, and I try and bring forward to them ideas and options that help them achieve what they want to do.
“And not all of those ideas are ripe and ready. I fully understand that and accept that,” he said, “as does our staff, because we’re ultimately here to serve the board and deliver on the choices the body makes.
“So there’s never frustration or conflict, because we view our job as to give them a recommendation. And I don’t think administratively we’re delivering on our responsibility if we don’t offer a very clear recommendation and the reasons why. But we’re equally not doing our job very well if we don’t understand that there are other ways to tackle problems, and that it’s our responsibility to lay those options out as well.”
With a year under his belt, Coudriet said he looks forward to continuing to lead New Hanover County, with the board’s collaboration, predicting economic development would be a main priority.
“I think the first year delivered on the results that I hope the board wanted and expected and that have benefited the community,” Coudriet said. “If you’d asked me 10 years ago, ‘Where would you like to be in 10 years,’ this is exactly the answer that I would have given to you. It’s the challenge of the job, but it’s also the depth and the quality of our community.
“I like being in an organization that’s creating opportunity for people to maximize their potential and help create the best life for them, and that’s really what local government is about. It’s about creating opportunity; it’s about offering access to resources—and helping people,” he said. “That’s what motivates me.”
Jonathan Spiers is a reporter for Port City Daily. He can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @jrspiers
