Cheek retired one year ago in Mebane; he’ll take reins from Hardin Watkins, who retired from Burlington post last month (effective March 6)
Burlington’s city council has tapped retired Mebane city manager David Cheek to serve as Burlington’s city manager while the council conducts a search for a permanent manager following the retirement of Hardin Watkins.
Cheek retired a year ago as city manager in Mebane after a 31-year career in county and city government. Cheek served as assistant county manager, county manager, as well as assistant city manager and city manager in Mebane; in between those jobs, he was the finance director for Alamance Community College.
More recently, he had accepted a new position with Raleigh-based Bobbitt, a full-service design-build and construction management firm, last summer.
Watkins announced his intention to retire, effective March 6, last month, but also agreed to serve as a consultant to the city during an interim period. Watkins had been city manager in Burlington for six years and, like Cheek, had a 32-year career in public service – for Watkins that included 23 years as city manager in three different communities.
