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Tuesday night the Wake Forest
commissioners voted to renew Town
Manager Mark Williams’ contract and give
him a 3.5 percent raise, bringing his
salary to $108,412 as of July 1. The
figure includes the 3.5 percent
cost-of-living-adjustment Williams is
recommending for all employees and
elected officials.
The board reviewed Williams’
performance during a lengthy special
closed session last Wednesday. They also
evaluated the performance of the town’s
law firm, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton
and made no changes in that contract.
According to Williams, the
firm is paid $600 a month for lawyers
Eric Vernon and Roger Knight to attend,
respectively, the town board and
planning board meetings and provide two
hours of legal advice each month. The
town is billed for any additional work
by any attorney in the firm. The amount
is based on each attorney’s fees but
billed at a reduced rate.
Williams said the $7,200
flat fee is what former town attorney
Ellis Nassif used to bill the town for
his work for an entire year and just
sort of carried over when Wyrick et.al
were retained.
Williams’ 3.5 percent raise
is not as substantial as it has been in
the past few years. In November of 2001
the board agreed to a 15 percent raise
of $11,000, from $71,000 to $82,000, to
bring his salary more in line with those
of other managers across the county and
state, which then averaged $85,000.
Since then, the
commissioners have agreed on 5 percent
raises in the spring of both 2003 and
2004, and in February of 2005 they gave
him a 6 percent raise to $101,695.
The 2001 contract included
an incentive for Williams to obtain a
master of public administration degree,
$3,000 when he completes half the
coursework and another $3,000 when he
completes the degree. In addition the
town will fully reimburse him for
tuition, books and materials for his
studies at North Carolina State
University. Williams has said that
budget concerns the year the state
withheld funds and family
responsibilities have kept him from
working on his degree.
It also says Williams and
his family are not required to move from
their home in the Wyndemere subdivision,
which is outside the town limits. Most
towns require their managers to live
within town limits.
Tuesday night, Commissioner
Frank Drake urged Williams to further
his education.
Mayor Vivian Jones praised
Williams, saying he does an outstanding
job and “stands way above other managers
in Wake County.”
Williams, 49, attended NCSU
and came to Wake Forest in 1983 as the
parks and recreation director. He was
the assistant town manager and an
interim manager between town managers
before he was hired as the town manager
in 1993. |
