Tomorrow, the City Council will meet at a special session with a purpose to confirm and ratify the Mayor and Council’s termination of the employment of Natasha Hampton as City Manager, effective June 1, 2021.
The City Council packet on this item reads the following:
In January 2021 the City engaged Baker Tilly to facilitate the selection of a new City Manager after the prior City Manager had resigned. The City Council worked with Baker Tilly to review candidates and on May 4, 2021 announced the selection of Natasha Hampton to be the new City Manager. Subsequently, the City received information that was different from the information provided by Ms. Hampton. Over the next few weeks, the Baker Tilly consultant, the City Attorney, and the Mayor discussed these discrepancies with Ms. Hampton, her attorney, and officials with the City of Rocky Mount. The Council determined on May 29, 2021 that the issues and discrepancies justified termination for cause, but directed the City Attorney to offer a confidential settlement agreement in order to minimize disruption to the City and impact on Ms. Hampton. Ms. Hampton was informed of Council’s decision on May 29th and received a written settlement agreement on June 1, 2021. The offer from the City was not accepted, and the City did not accept a counter-proposal. City Charter §9-3 requires that the City Manager may be removed by a resolution approved by a vote of six members of the Mayor and Council.
Last week, the City made a statement on Ms. Hampton’s employment termination.
The City Council will return to the scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 13