RSS
 |
“One reason is because of the condition of the economy I’m afraid the city’s finances may get in worse shape and I don’t want to get swept up in that,” Gurley said yesterday. “It’s new territory for me. I want to enjoy my family. I have a son in Raleigh and an elderly mother who just celebrated her 90th birthday. That requires a lot of time taking care of her and she spent a lot of time taking care of me.”
Gurley leaves the city after 11 1/2 years. He spent nine years with the city previously in the 1970s. All but two months of his current service were as planning and development director.
He said he leaves the city knowing the Planning and Development department has progressed. “I think the major thing is we went from zoning and subdivision regulations to a land use ordinance which includes all those things in one document,” he said. “With the GIS (Geographic Information System) system, we have computerized flood maps which we never had before.”
The department is still studying an overlay district for uptown and downtown along with a noise ordinance to allow outside dining and entertainment. “One of the big things was the entertainment overlay district,” he said.
Gurley said he will miss the day-to-day activities of the department and meeting the people who came in for business. “We’ve just done the best we could do to be fair and even handed. When we apply ordinances people get treated the same way with the same process but the results may vary. We use the same process for everyone.”
Beale said, “George has a tough job. Any time you’re in planning you can’t please everybody.”
The mayor said, however, “People left a good message about George. I reckon he reached the point where he wants to get out and enjoy retirement. He’s been a good planning director.”
Beale said Lee and Gurley were dedicated employees. “That girl works and will be there to 7 to 8. She just wants a job where she can get off at 5,” he said of Lee. “George has a tough job. He’s done a good job, but it’s a tough job. I was not always in agreement with his decisions but when someone came in he always tried his best to work with them.”
Choosing a new planning director will be the decision of the city manager, the mayor said and it could most likely be the decision of a new city manager.
Beale said choosing a new city manager will be a council decision. “I would like to see all five involved in picking the city manager. We will contact the League of Municipalities to help us select a manager.”
Comments