HAMLET — The Hamlet City Council will hold a special meeting on March 6 to discuss filling the vacancy left by Terry Moore, who resigned last week in dramatic fashion.

The council will make a final decision on who to nominate for the empty council seat at that meeting, and this person will be sworn in at the monthly council meeting on March 10. This person will then serve out the remainder of Moore’s four-year term, according to City Manager Jonathan Blanton.

The special meeting will be held at 5 p.m. in the council chambers located in City Hall, 201 Main St. It will be open to the public, but Blanton said Wednesday he was unsure if the public would be able to comment on the appointment. However, there will be a public comment session prior to the official swearing in ceremony at the March 10 meeting.

Anyone interested in being considered for the seat is able to make their case to Blanton or any city council member.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the only person to express interest in the seat is former mayor and former city councilwoman Abbie Covington.

Covington messaged the city on Feb. 18 saying, “I am seriously interested in the position.”

“I think that going back to days of sounder practices would resonate with the public,” Covington told the city.

Covington was first elected to Hamlet City Council in the 1970s and has served in elected office for more than 40 years. She served as mayor — the city’s first female to hold the office — for 10 years in the 1980s and 90s, and returned to the council where she remained until 2013.

When the Imperial Foods plant fire marred Hamlet in 1991, Covington was in her first term as mayor.

When reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, Covington said she’s been troubled by the recent drama on the council and wants to be a “unifying factor” for the city.

“I’ve had a hard time trying to pretend like things were what they needed to be and I though I needed to be part of the solution and not part of the problem,” Covington said. “I woke up and said, ‘This is it.’”

I’m very concerned about the City of Hamlet and have always been and I want to do what I can to make a positive difference in the lives of people that live here,” she continued. “I want this to be a council with less drama and more positive action.”

Covington said she’s been encouraged by the positive steps the city has taken at the lake and in implementing new community policing programs, but said these things have been “clouded” by negativity.

Hamlet originally planned to hold a budget planning meeting on March 6, but that has been postponed.

“It is difficult for me to imagine a candidate that is more qualified, experienced, or committed to furthering the best interest of the City of Hamlet than Mrs. Covington,” said Blanton in an email. “However, any person who may feel inclined to express interest is welcome to let their interest be known.”

Moore stated his intent to resign at the council’s monthly meeting on Feb. 11. The council went into closed session and after about 30 minutes, Moore stormed past those waiting in the lobby and walked across the street to his car without saying anything.

The council, when it returned to open session, then voted to censure Moore for three alleged conduct violations: obtaining 17 documents including “matters of personnel” relating to the Hamlet Police Department, disclosing details of this information via email to Blanton rather than in a closed session of a regular meeting of council, and by “possibly” creating a “hostile work environment” through derogatory comments about Chief of Police Tommy McMasters.

McMasters, who is black, said those comments made by Moore included using the n-word in reference to McMasters. Moore has denied ever using the n-word in relation to McMasters or anyone else.

Three sources with knowledge later confirmed that the information Moore obtained included HPD officers’ location data, speed readings of officers’ vehicles along with corresponding vehicle numbers, maps and recordings.

https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/web1_Seal-of-the-City-of-Hamlet-1-1-3.jpg
Those interested can contact city staff

Gavin Stone

News Editor

Reach Gavin Stone at 910-817-2673 or [email protected].