Craig Honeycutt has announced that he’ll retire from his post as Burlington’s city manager at the end of the current calendar year.
A 32-year veteran of city and county government, Honeycutt has served as Burlington’s top-ranking administrator since the summer of 2022. He took over this role after a brief stint as one of Burlington’s assistant city managers – which followed earlier turns as the county manager in Alamance and Wayne counties and, before that, as the town manager in Laurinburg and Fletcher.
In a news release that the city issued on Friday, Honeycutt portrayed his three years in Burlington as the culmination of his decades-long career in local government.
“Burlington has been a joy to work for,” the outgoing city manager declared, “from a city council that collaborates and fully supports its staff, to forward-thinking planning, highly professional public safety services, outstanding recreation facilities, and leadership in water and sewer services for the county and region. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve this city and lead such a dedicated organization.”
Honeycutt, who will remain in the city manager’s post until December 31, has been a resident of Elon since his tenure as Alamance County’s manager. He also currently serves as an adjunct professor at Elon University, where he teaches American Government and Intro to Public Administration.
In addition to Honeycutt’s forthcoming retirement, the city issued another news release on Friday to announce the appointment of Bob Patterson, the city’s water services director, to one of Burlington’s two assistant manager posts.
A member of Burlington’s municipal staff since 1997, Patterson will be taking over a position that has been vacant since the retirement of former assistant city manager Nolan Kirkman in the summer of 2024. Rachel Kelly, the city’s other assistant manager, will remain in her current role amid these transitions in Burlington’s leadership.
According to Morgan Lasater, the city’s public engagement director, Patterson’s elevation to assistant city manager is not unrelated to Honeycutt’s impending departure.
“I think the council’s plan was to have both of those positions filled to ensure continuity,” Lasater explained on Friday afternoon.
