Mebane’s city council has voted to hire former Elon town manager Richard J. White, III as its next city manager.
The council voted unanimously, 5-0, after a 20-minute closed session at the end of a 5-hour long city council meeting. White will receive a salary of $220,000, it was announced.
The Mebane post is the latest for the municipal administrator who has held a number of positions, most recently, for the past year, as deputy city manager in Salisbury.
One of White’s longest tenures was in Elon, where he served as town manager for five-and-half years, between February 2014 to July 2019.
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He left Elon to take a position as assistant city manager and interim equity and inclusion director for the city of Asheville, his hometown, where he served for two years, between July 2019 until August 2021.
He next took a position as town manager, between August 2021 until November 2023, for the town of Carrboro.
He began deputy city manager in Asheville last November.
His first day on the job in Mebane is expected to be January 2, 2025.
White began his municipal career in Charlotte in 1997, where he served for a total of three-and-half years; he started as an intern for a year (June 1997-June 1998); was management analyst (June 1998 to April 1999); and MWBD program manager (April 1999-October 2000).
He next worked for 5 years in the town of Carrboro as an assistant town manager, before moving to Athens, Georgia where he worked as assistant manager for the Athens-Clarke County government for 8 years before taking his position with Elon.
White received his bachelor’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill after being selected as a Morehead scholar and North Carolina Fellow.
After graduation, White was in the insurance business before earning a master of public administration degree from N.C. State University where he was also a HUD Fellow.
He is a member of the International and North Carolina City/County Management Associations and previously served on the boards of directors of the Alamance Chamber of Commerce and Asheville City Schools Foundation. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper appointed White to the N.C. Code Officials Qualification Board, where he served as the policy and procedures chair.
In Mebane, White will succeed Chris Rollins, who retired in July. Rollins had worked in Mebane for 11 years, initially as the assistant city manager, and later succeeding former city manager David Cheek in early 2021.
Assistant Mebane city manager Preston Mitchell has been serving as interim city manager, but did not seek the top spot in Mebane government, and is expected to remain in his previous capacity as assistant city manager.
Earlier this fall, a consultant hired to help the city, Steve Straus, told the council that Mitchell’s presence initially caused a shortage of applicants. That prompted the city to readvertise the position with the direct statement that the assistant city manager was not applying and did not seek the city manager’s position.
