Andrews – The Board of Aldermen concluded that the town’s need for employees outweighs the risk of opening a “can of worms” in the future.
The board voted 3-1 on April 19 to rescind the town’s anti-nepotism policy and allow town employees to hire family members to work in their departments.
“I personally feel like my board made the right decision, and I know down the road we’re going to encounter stuff where we say, ‘Do we hire this person?’ ” Mayor James Reid said. “We just have to use good judgment.
“I can kind of see why it’s been in place over the years, but I think if we do it right and we handle the situations right, we’ll be absolutely fine with it.”
Mayor Pro Tem Brandi Smith offered the lone opposition to the change, saying she was “extremely against” rescinding the policy. Smith said businesses and government bodies typically have anti-nepotism policies in place for a reason.
“I think, for future reference, it will open up the god-awfulest can of worms,” Smith said. “I’m just looking at the long term for years to come.
“I know people say, ‘Oh, I can be fair and it won’t cause any conflicts,’ but I totally disagree with that. I think anytime you have a family member being your supervisor, your direct boss, it will cause conflict.”
Andrews made the change, in part, to allow Recreation Director James “Jaybird” Ellis’ son to work as an employee at the pool
this summer. The town also approved the hiring of Police Chief Rocky Burrell’s son as a part-time officer after previously denying that move.
Reid said neither Ellis nor Burrell will be the direct supervisor of their sons. Both hires also are expected to be short-term roles, as Reid said Burrell’s son intends to attend N.C. Highway Patrol school in the fall.
Ellis said he previously was unaware of the anti-nepotism policy and said he would be fine with whatever the board decided. He added that his son worked as a pool employee before he was hired as recreation director this year.
“I’m not going to be upset in either direction,” Ellis said.
Smith specified that her opposition to the policy change had nothing to do with any of the individuals involved in the current hires, but said she did not think it was worth making the policy change in order to hire a pair of employees, especially for just a few months in both cases.
“We told Rocky, ‘No, we will not hire Hunter because he is your son, and it is not good policy to be the immediate supervisor of your own child,’ ” Smith said. “I do not think we need to change the whole employment policy for employment of relatives just to accommodate a few. I think that will be disastrous.”
Reid said he understands Smith’s position on the issue, but believes the current need for employees outweighs the other factors.
“It’s hard to find anybody that will take a job and (James Ellis’) son worked for me last year before James got his job, and he was one of the best employees I had at the pool,” Reid said.
“I didn’t want to see us go a year and not have a good employee ... and obviously Rocky’s son is leaving for Highway Patrol school in the fall, but we need coverage now on our police side of it.”
Board member Jonathan Ellison said he was against rescinding the policy but changed his thinking. He also commended Smith for standing firm on her position.
“I think I messed up, I do,” Ellison said. “I’ve always been against (dissolving) it because nothing good ever comes out of it, but at the same time my line of work is a little different. I can only imagine the predicament that Jaybird might be in, and I can’t imagine what predicament we have already put Rocky in.”