Burlington’s city council has announced the selection of assistant city manager Bob Patterson to serve as the successor to outgoing city manager Craig Honeycutt.
The city council formally tapped Patterson for the city manager’s position on Monday – paving the way for him to take over Honeycutt’s role on October 30, although Honeycutt will remain in the city’s employ as “city manager emeritus” until December 31.
The council formally approved Patterson’s elevation by a margin of 5-to-0 after a 40-minute closed session that capped off an otherwise open “work session” on Monday.
This vote followed several other, much more exhaustive closed-door discussions over the past several months, including a particularly arduous four-hour powwow during a council meeting on September 16. Less than a week later, the council held a special called meeting to resume their closed-door conversation – which they had indicated in their official notice would be followed by a public announcement concerning the city manager’s post. Instead of the promised announcement, however, the council declared that it would unveil its big secret at its next regularly-scheduled meeting in early October.
Read other recent Burlington news stories:
Council adopts Master Plan for City Park: https://alamancenews.com/council-adopts-master-plan-for-burlingtons-city-park/
Council gives Samet three more years to meet requirements for incentives already paid out: https://alamancenews.com/burlington-gives-samet-3-year-extension-to-meet-terms-of-incentives-agreement/
Consultant says Burlington needs three new fire stations: https://alamancenews.com/consultant-says-burlington-needs-three-more-fire-stations-one-of-current-six-should-be-relocated/
Burlington’s mayor Jim Butler alluded to this grueling meeting when he and his colleagues emerged from their closed-door confab on Monday. Butler briefly reflected on the “many weeks” the council had spent “discussing the city manager’s open position,” which councilman Bob Ward promptly provided ahead of the unanimous vote in Patterson’s favor.
A member of Burlington’s municipal staff since 1997, Patterson’s long and varied career with the city has included positions in public works, engineering, and water resources. In fact, the incoming city manager was serving as the city’s executive director for both engineering and water resources in August when he was raised to his current position as one of the municipality’s two assistant city managers.
The assistant manager’s post had also been a stepping stone for Honeycutt, who held this lower-ranking administrative post for barely two weeks before he was tapped to become Burlington’s city manager in the summer of 2022.
According to the city of Burlington, Patterson originally came to Burlington with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburg and a master’s in civil and environmental engineering from Youngstown University. In his spare time, he is involved in the Burlington Kiwanis Club. He also plays recreational baseball and is active in the 50-plus seniors Central NC Men’s Baseball League and was part of a national championship team in 2022.
Patterson lives in Southern Alamance County with his wife Trish.
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