All tagged tony sears
In March of 2021, the Kinston Police Department Chief Tim Dilday announced his intent to retire after 27 years with the department. Earlier this month, City Manager Tony Sears announced his intention to leave the City of Kinston after almost a decade and assume a new role in Wilson. In another loss for the City of Kinston, Lenoir County has hired City Planner Adam Short as the Assistant to the County Manager / Planning Director to lead strategic planning and inspections.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the city of Kinston is looking for a city manager.
During closed session of Tuesday’s regular meeting, City Manager Tony Sears tendered his resignation to the Kinston City Council; his final day in the position will be Aug. 17. He has accepted the deputy city manager position for the City of Wilson.
The city of Kinston announced that the second Point of Delivery (POD) construction is moving along.
“Most cities our size have more than one point of delivery,” said Public Services Director Rhonda Barwick. “If that connection to our supplier should fail or is damaged the entire customer base would be without power until it could be re-energized.”
A press conference was held tonight with city officials including Mayor Don Hardy, City Manager Tony Sears, Kinston Police Department's Chief Dilday, and Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Solomon in response to an officer related incident captured and shared on social media.
President Biden signed H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan (ARP), intended to assist with the public health crisis created by the pandemic. As vaccine distribution and availability increases, more funds are needed to ensure the availability of the vaccine, that children are able to return to school, and that people can return to work. "By ensuring disaster relief funds are provided direct to municipalities, the American Rescue Plan allocated $5.8 million directly to the City of Kinston, NC to help our citizens and local economy recover from the impact of the pandemic," said Mayor Don Hardy.
During Monday night’s City Council meeting, motions were unanimously passed proclaiming the November General Election Day and Juneteenth as city holidays, starting with 2020. City manager Tony Sears confirmed the two additional city holidays would be paid and later confirmed to Neuse News that “the salaries for a single day across all budgets is $53,604.17.”
Statements during the meeting attested there would be no “extra cost” to the taxpayers for the two new annual holidays. Citizens took to social media following the meeting suggesting that emergency services employees should get paid time and a half for holiday pay, which potentially would be an extra cost for the city in direct contrast to the vote’s portrayal.
An afternoon thunderstorm dumped inches of rain in Kinston, and caused flash flooding in many neighborhoods.
Have you ever had something gnaw at you long enough that you finally had to address it?
Last month the City of Kinston requested that Neuse News run a Public Notice informing the community of the proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 budget. Having served for eight years as mayor, I know the budget process and numbers well. Glaring to me was the proposed $26,100 increase in the mayor and council’s salary line item. Surely that was a mistake. Surely in a time like this that would not be on the table.
The proposed budget for next year anticipates steep drops in revenue. It eliminates capital outlay and calls for positions to remain unfilled while raising the possibility of employee furloughs if revenues drop more than expected. Under the proposed budget, city council members and the mayor would receive a raise.
The public is hereby advised that per G.S. 159-12, the City Manager has submitted the proposed budget for the City of Kinston for FY 2020-2021 to the Mayor and the City Council. The City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget during their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, June 15, 2020 at 7:00 pm, or as soon thereafter as may be heard, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 207 E. King Street, Kinston, North Carolina or via remote communications technology.
After 85 years, Emma Webb pool closed in 2018. It would have cost about $600,000 to put a new liner and upgrade the pool. The initial plan was to replace the pool, but the cost has kept it in a state of waiting. The City of Kinston has applied for a PARTF grant to help reopen Emma Webb.
Construction has begun to transform the former RadioShack building on West Vernon Avenue into Kinston’s first Starbucks.
Council members wish to see warranty information on replacement parts before making a further decision.
The Council tabled the scoreboard replacement proposal for its second meeting in January, 2020 and approved the North Carolina Department of Transportation's proposal to remove the stoplight on Vernon Avenue at Vernon Park Mall.
Residents of Kinston can now apply to participate in the upcoming citizen academy, “Kinston 101” to learn more about city government.
