In December 2023, City Manager Marchell Adams-David was given a 10% raise, based on her performance against the goals she was given by the Raleigh City Council. However, there appear to be only nine people who know what those goals were (and therefore whether they were actually hit or not). The eight members of Council, and the City Manager herself.
When asked about what the goals were, Mayor Mary-ann Baldwin declined to give them, instead hiding them behind “closed session”. However, a quick look through North Carolina law seems to indicate those goals should be public.
- N.C. General Statute 160A-168, Paragraph (b)
- The following information with respect to each city employee is a matter of public record:
- Line (4)
- The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the city has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
As such, I reached out to the City Council members through their email, requesting the Manager’s goals be made public. I included a link to the relevant state law. I have only heard back from ONE member of the Council. Councilor Megan Patton from District B (my district) informed me that she had forwarded my email to the City Attorney for review, but as of January 4th, she hadn’t received anything back. I have again followed up with the Councilor, as I haven’t heard anything back as of today.
Additionally, I was sent an email from Robin Deacle, Director of Communications, informing me I should submit my request through a public records act request. I did so on December 13th.
I still haven’t received a response.
In a time when the City Council is actively discussing how to further limit our ability to engage with the City, by discussing ways to shorten public speaking time, are we really surprised that they are hiding things from us too? Transparency and engagement should be the very hallmarks of local government, unless you live in Raleigh.