Three days after her abrupt resignation at the request of a majority of the board of commissioners, dismissed New Hanover County clerk Sheila Schult says she still does not know why she was asked to resign, noting her most recent evaluation was positive.
Reached Wednesday at her home, Schult said she believes information about her dismissal could see the light of day, but she declined to go into specifics about why she believes she was asked to resign.
“I think it’s going to come out probably sooner rather than later. But at this point, I’m not ready to go on-record,” Schult said.
“I’ve had an outpouring of love, support, emails, texts, phone calls and everything else,” she said. “People that know me know me, and they know the job that I do. So it’s just hogwash whatever gets spewed out of the mouth of politicians. The whole job is political, and I really don’t want to say more at this point.”
Schult submitted a resignation letter after meeting Monday morning with County Manager Chris Coudriet, who said he was asked to relay to Schult that a majority of the board had concerns with her “ability to serve the board effectively”—as stated in a statement the county released later that day.
Related story: New Hanover County clerk resigns—at board’s invitation, commissioner says
In that letter, which Schult provided to Port City Daily, Schult said it was “with a great sense of relief and clear conscience” that she tendered her resignation “as requested” by Chairman Woody White and commissioners Jonathan Barfield and Tom Wolfe.
White has declined to elaborate on the reasons for that request, describing the issue as a personnel matter, while Barfield has noted general statutes allow the board to dismiss the clerk, who serves at the board’s pleasure.
Barfield said Monday: “The county attorney, the county manager and the clerk to the board work at the pleasure of the board of commissioners, and a majority of the board felt like we weren’t being served in the way we needed to be served by the clerk. So the decision was made to offer the opportunity to resign, which she decided to resign.”
Schult said she didn’t know why she was asked to resign that day as opposed to any other, as she has served the current board over the past two years and has served as clerk for 10 and a half years.
Requests by Port City Daily for Schult’s employment history were fulfilled by the county Thursday morning. She was hired in March 2004 at an annual base salary of $55,000. Her salary was $76,741 when she submitted her resignation Monday.
Her employment agreement with the county requires that Schult receive six months’ worth of that salary. With a personal leave payout, insurance benefits and car and phone allowances added to that, her overall severance is projected to be $60,235. (Related story)
Schult said she was slated for an annual review and does not know why one wasn’t held if the board was dissatisfied with her performance.
“My last performance evaluation was July 15 of last year, at which time I was given my employment contract,” she said. “I have not had one word of discussion about my performance with any commissioner since then.
“I will say that I have never had a bad review. My review last year was excellent,” she said. “I’ve never had any conversation since my review, which was excellent, of any concerns. So definitely if there were concerns, then they should have been vocalized. I was as caught off-guard with this as anybody else was.”
Dawson, who serves as the board’s vice chairwoman, was among those surprised by Monday’s events. Dawson said she was not consulted and “did not concur” with her colleagues’ decision, contending that it should have been made after meeting in a closed session.
Commissioner on colleagues’ dismissal of clerk: ‘It should have been handled in the proper way’
Regarding the timing of the board’s request, Schult said: “It was interesting, because our reviews were coming up. We were past-due for an annual review. So in my mind, why wouldn’t you just wait until our review to do it and give me the ax then? I don’t know.
“I think the timing was very strange, myself, because I got to work and I got called into Chris Coudriet’s office about 10 minutes after I got to work,” Schult said. Laughing, she added: “I wish they’d let me know ahead of time—I wouldn’t have gotten quite so dressed up.
“I think the timing probably was because they had the votes then,” she said. “I think after the election (this November), they possibly won’t have.”
Referring to Wolfe, Schult added: “I think the fact that an appointed commissioner who only had a couple more months on the board voting out the current clerk is not appropriate. That timing was just because they had the votes.”
Asked her reaction to her dismissal after a decade with the county, Schult said: “I take offense that I was not even approached.”
“I think there’s a right way to do things and there’s a wrong way to do things. There’s a transparent way to do things and there’s a way to do things with integrity. And I don’t believe that was done in this case.
“It’s unfortunate, and I’m just a victim of it. But it’s okay,” she said. “This is not going to get me down, in any way shape or form. This was not my life; this was a job.”
Schult said she stands by her work for the county and the board and is looking forward to enjoying the next chapter of her life.
“I’m doing great. Like my resignation letter says: New Hanover County and three commissioners are not in charge of my life; the Lord is,” Schult said. “And I trust him, and I think this is in his perfect will, and I’m okay. It’s not going to get me down.
“My plans are to enjoy my life right now,” she said. “I’ve got a daughter and grandchildren here and I’ve got a son and a daughter with grandchildren in Raleigh, and I’m going to be anywhere I want to be, whenever I want to be. I have gotten my life back.”
Editor’s note: This is a revised version of a story that was first published earlier today.
Jonathan Spiers is a reporter for Port City Daily. He can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or jonathan.s@portcitydaily.com. On Twitter: @jrspiers
